^(laaaiBiMMMiyiiiWPocMiiiiwi 

SKETCHES 


OF   THE 


■  FIBSTREG1MENTGA.V0L&" 


. 


.  her    v»  itii 


Txazizi  TzzorroT^rz- 


OV  THE 


GfitlflUXaJIEVl  GEORGIA  VOL 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1804, 

by    LiKxianEisrA.isrr    oscak    >v.  cantrell, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Confederate  Suites  for 
the  Northern  District  of  Georgia.    ' 


George  Washington  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 
FAMILY  OF 

COLONEL  FLOWERS 


SKETCHES 


07   THE 


FIRST  REGIMENT  GA.  VOLS. 


IIKK     WITH 


3?EEE    HISTOR1T       ^ 

4  tf  ' 


56th  REGIMENT  GEORGIA  VOLS., 


TO  JANUARY    !  . 


BY  LIEUTENANT  OSCAR  A.  CANTRELL. 


ATLANTA,   GEORGIA: 
INTELLIGENCER   STEAM   POWER   PRESSES. 

1864. 


TO 

ED.WIN  ROSCOE  THORNTON, 


AS 


A  PEOOF  OF  Xn^TIRIFG  FEIENDSElP, 


AS  WELL  A3 


A  HIGH  OPINION  OP  HIM  AS  A  LEARNED  AND  TALENTED  YODNG  GENTLEMAN, 

%  Iris  Wsfli  is  pfptMrj  gjttiatttir, 


IJY 

THE  AUTHOR 


PREFACE. 


This  narrative  is  a  record  of  lected  from  the  Author'*  diary, 

the  intention  of  which  wi  not  originally  for  publication,  and  ia  rnanj 
places  the  language  is  adopted  word  for  word  as  hurriedly  written  iu  the 
original  memoranda  after  a  hard  day's  march,  consequently  portions  of 
this  work  reads  as  though  it  was  a  memoir  of  the  Author,  relating  what 
he  did  as  well  as  the  regiment  to  wMch  he  belonged. 

Had  it  not  been  f  >r  the  solicitation  of  many  friends,  who  witnessed 
many  of  the  hardships  acd  trying  scenes,  as  described  in  this  little  work, 
it  would  have  remaii  obscure  little  raanu- 

■»cript,  kept  by  the  author  for  perusal  at  leisure  moments. 

That  portion  of  this  work  termed  "Sketches  of  the  First  Regiment 
Georgia  Volunteers,"  is  very  imperfect,  the  Author  having  no  notes  to 
assist  him,  save  memory,  a  few  letters,  however,  are  recorded, 

which  were  written  to  friends  and  afterwards  appeared  in  some  of  the 
public  journals  of  Georgia. 

Throughout  this  narrative  the  word  "boys"  is  frequently  u>cd.  mean- 
ing soldiers  not  only  of  the  First  and  Fifty-Sixth  Georgia  Rtgl 
nf  the  whole  command. 

In  that  portion  of  this  work  termed  "  II  he  Fifty-Sixth  Ilcgi- 

ment  Georgia  Volunteers,"  we  do  no;  find  a  full  and  complete  record  of 
important  and  interesting  events,  such  as  might  appear  were  the  Author 
an  historian,  accompanying  the  army  for  the  purpose  of  writing  histories, 
but  we  find  events  recorded  of  miner  importar.ee,  which,  in  many  places, 
is  done  to  show  the  manner  in  which  the  soldier  i  life,  atoo  to 

show  what  demoralizing  influences  attends  his  pathway. 

There  are  several  tricks  recorded  in  this  work,  showing  the  shrewd- 
ness of  soldiers  in  obtaining  the  property  of  others  without  paying  for 
the  same,  such  as  the  Chris-tmas  tricks  at  Chattanooga,  and  the  potato 
trick  at  West-Point,  and  all  ethers  of  a  similar  character,  all  of  which 
were  related  to  the  Auther  by  members  of  his  regiment,  while  he  was 
preparing  this  work  for  publication.     Had  he  been  a  witness  to  this 


IV  PREFACE. 

• 

roguery  arid  robbing-,  it  would  have  been  his  duty,  as  an  officer  of  the- 
Confederate  Army,  to  have  had  the  g'lilty  parties  arrested,  and  he  most 
assuredly  would  have  acted  in  accordance  with  his  duty. 

There  was  not  much  effort  made  to  obtain  facts  concerning  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg.  It  appears  here  just  as  it  was  penned  by  the  Author 
during  its  progress.  He  obtained  information  from  no  one,  describing 
only  the  particulars  as  seen  by  his  own  eye. 

OSCAR  ALEXANDER  CANTRELL. 

Dai/ton,  Ga.,  March,  1S64. 


SKETCHES. 


CHAPTER   I. 

I  X  T  R  <■  D  U  C  T  I  O  N 


Kvw.v  in  tin-  pear  1861,  I  plainly  «aw  i'.  anient 

which  was  >preading  nil  f»vi  r  our  lam),  that)  a  blood  £  war  be- 
tween the  North  and  South  was  inevitable.  I  well  knew  that 
we  had  a  foe  "  whose  #le 

and  whosettildoni  brokeq  up  $e» their, depths,  freshing 

forth  scniinv.nts  corrupt  and  j    ,t  t],c 

time  wm  pear  al  html,  wh.  n  the  s.uth.would  la* 
and  make  it  an   issue,  show  inor  to,  the  world   that  she  rea] 
what  is  »ight,  and  condemns  what  is  wrong/1     My  oonv* 
beingthna,I  hi':  home  on  the  fourth  dajroi  Jane  eeded 

to  Newnan,  Geo.,  and  early  the  following  morning  eight  young 
men,  seven  of  whom  were  from  Newnan,  and  Styatlf  from 
Gampbelhon  was  the  eighth,   itopi  .<uger 

brain,  which  soon  began  to  hear  us  on  towards  Virginia 
e*uits  to  the  "Newnan  Guards, "    which  was  Compap; 
Georgia  Regiment.     At  sunset   the  whistle  blew  and  the  train 
stopped  under  the  car  shelter   at   Augusta,   Geo.;  we  hopped 
into  an  omnibus  and  soon  arrived  at  the  depot  on  the 
side  of  the  city.     We   again  took  the.  train,   and   on  the  <  i 
day  of  June  we  arrived  at  RicWond,  Virginia,  and  immod 
Iy  proceeded  one  mile  east  of  the  city,  where-we  found  the  first 
Georgia  Regiment  tented  on   a  beautiful  elevated  plain.     In  a 
few  days  afterwards  we  were  reviewed  by  President  Davis  and 
Governor  Letcher,  each  of  whom  delivered  a  short  and  eloquent 
address.     On  the  twelfth  of  June  we  took  the  train  and  travel- 
ed to  Staunton,  Virginia,  wli  sre  v.  e  stayed  foi  days,  and 
then  «  set  out:'  for  Laurel  Hill. 


6  [NTJRODUCnOir. 

Oar  trip  from  Georgia  to  Staunton  was  a  pleasant  one.  Sol- 
diers were  something  new,  and  being  dressed  in  new  gray  uni- 
forms, with  spotted  flannel  shirts,  and  brass  buttons  shining,  we 
took  very  well  among  the  ladies,  who  gathered  in  great  num- 
bers around  every  station  on  the  route,  and  cheered  us  by  wav- 
ing their  handkerchiefs  and  throwing  us  bouquets.  We  did  not 
lack  for  provisions,  as  we  got  the  best  that  the  country  afford- 
ed ;  some  of  which  was  free  of  charge. 

The  first  remark  that  caused  me  to  think  seriously  about  the 
dangers  of  war,  was  made  by  a  gentleman  sitting  in  the  car 
which  was  crowded  with  soldiers.  He  said  that  he  would  not 
give  three  cents  for  the  chance  of  any  soldier's  life,  among  the 
whole  car  load,  who  were  then  on  their  way  to  the  hnttlelield. 
I  then  began  to  feel  as  though  I  would  never  see  home  again, 
and  that  a  soldier's  life  in  time  of  war  was  but  short.  Fortu- 
nately for  me  I  have  been  permitted  to  live  until  the  present 
time,  but  many  who  heard  that  serious  remark  are  to-day  lying 
in  the  "cold,  the  dark,  and  silent  grave;"  and  how  many  hun- 
dreds and  thousands,  yea,  tens  of  thousands,  who  were  at  that 
day  in  the  bloom  of  life,  that  are  now  "  numbered  among  the 
dead ;"  they  have  fallen  bravely  in  the  defense  of  their  country, 
and  to-day  "  I  hope  that  they  are  mingling  their  voices  with 
angels  in  the  patriot's  heaven."  Every  household  has  been  made 
to  mourn  ;  almost  every  eye  has  been  made  to  shed  tears ;  and 
all  have  lost  relatives  and  friends.  If  the  readers  of  this  knew 
half  the  trials  and  sufferings  of  the  poor  soldier,  it  would  move 
them  with  compassion  ;  the  tender  chords  of  their  hearts  would 
be  touched,  and  tears  would  freely  fall  from  their  eyes. 

About  the  sixteenth  day  of  June  wre  started  to  Laurel  Hill. 
A  long  march  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  across  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains  now  lay  before  us.  In  crossing  this  long  and 
high  range  of  mountains,  I  thought  of  Bonaparte,  and  I  thought 
of  the  Alps.  Two  things  it  did  afford  us,  pure  water  and  pic- 
turesque mountain  scenery. 

At  Buffalo  Gap,  ten  miles  from  Staunton,  the  citizens  gave 
the  whole  regiment  a  dinner  of  buttermilk  and  bread — after 
which  the  boys  gave  it  the  name  of  Buttermilk  Gap ;  one  gen- 
tleman furnished  one  hundred  gallons.  The  second  night  after 
we  left  Staunton,  a  member  of  our  company  was  killed  while 
performing  guard  duty,  by  a  raeraber  of  our  regiment  who  was 


RETREAT   FROM    LAUREL   ETLI 


intoxicated.  The  young  man,  whose  name  was  Meyer,  was 
very  much  beloved  by  his  fellow-soldiers ;  his  remains  were  sent 
to  Georgia  to  be  interred.  The  night  following  we  camped  at 
Monterey,  and  the  weather  was  so  cold  that  we  suffered  consid- 
erably during  the  night.  Conversing  with  some  aged  citizens, 
I  was  informed  that  fro  i  ery  month  in  the  year 

among  those  mountains. 

We  camped  at  Beverly  night  of  the  twenty-first  of  June,  and 
during  the  night  a  terrible  storm  came,  which  blew  down  most 
of  our  tents— it  raged  so  terribly  for  about  two  hours,  I  began 
to  think  that  soldiers  and  tents  would  be  blown  away.  We 
reached  Laurel  Hill  twenty-third  of  June-^-the  enemy  was  then 
in  strong  force  at  Philippi,  just  fifteen  miles  distant;  at  day- 
break,  seventh  of  July,  our  pickets  informed  us  of  the  near  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy,  who  had  just  arrived  in  sight  of  our  breast 
works ;  heavy  skirmishing  immediately  began  on  the  ninth  of 
July— the  enemy  began  faffing  our  encampment,  which  lasted 
for  two  days. 


CHAPTEH    II. 

RETKKAT  (-V   MAI  RAL  ft  8.  OARNFTT  FROM  LAURIE  tOU*  VIRGINIA 

On  the  eleventh  of  July,  news  was  received  that  the  enemy 
und<?r  General  McClellan  had  defeated  our  army  at  Rich  Moun- 
ta.n,  taking  Colonel  Pegram  and  his  command  prisoners,  which 
consisted  of  about  one  thousand  men,  and  that  General  McClel- 
lan  wa3  at  Beverly,  sixteen  miles  in  our  rear,  with  an  army  of 
ten  thousand  men  ;  at  sunset  General  Garnett  ordered  us  to 
strike  tents,  and  at  dark  our  whole  force,  which  consisted  of 
three  regiments  of  infantry,  two  companies  of  cavalry,  and  one 
company  of  artillery,  numbering  in  all  about  three  thousand 
men,  began  to  move  in  the  direction  of  Beverly— the  rain  was 
falling  upon  us  rapidly,  and  after  marching  a  few  miles  the  com- 
mand halted  to  rest.     One  of  our  boys  asked  Colonel  Ramsvv 
why  wc  marched  in  the  night  and  the  weather  so  inclement  ? 
The  Colonel  replied,  that  this  is  a  "  strategic"  movement.     We 
marched  all  night,  and  at  dawn  of  day  found  that  we  were  in 


RETREAT    FROM    LAUREL    HILLj 


three  miles  of  Beverly.  The  General  countermarched  us,  and 
after  marching  back  a  few  miles  he  filed  us  into  a  rough,  narrow, 
mountainous  road.  We  advanced  along  this  road  several  miles, 
when  General  Garnett  stopped  and  held  a  council  of  war ;  he 
had  one  of  two  courses  to  pursue,  that  is,  surrender  to  the  ene- 
my, or  try  to  make  his  escape  through  the  mountains.  In  a 
few  minutes  our  cavelry  reported  that  the  Yankees  were  in  pur- 
suit close  behind.  The  council  decided  to  make  our  escape  if 
possible.  We  began  to  move  off  in  the  quick  step,  the  day  was 
extremely  hot,  and  the  soldiers  began  to  throw  their  clothing 
from  their  knapsacks,  and  during  the  whole  day  I  was  scarcely 
out  of  sight  of  clothing  which  was  thrown  away,  the  bushes  on 
either  side  the  road  were  strewn  with  them.  The  General  had 
all  the  baggage  throw.n  out  of  the  wagons,  and  the  sick  placed 
in  them.  At  night  we  started  over  a  mountain,  and  it  began  to 
rain  very  hard  ;  a  great  many  of  our  teams  stalled,  and  we  had 
to  throw  the  wagons  down  the  mountain  and  leave  them.  We 
now  had  run  out  of  provisions,  and  about  two  hours  before  day 
we  lay  down  to  rest;  next  morning  we  began  continuing  the 
retreat.  At  about  ten  o'clock  it  began  to  rain  again,  we  were 
then  wading  Cheat  River  ;  our  cavalry  came  dashing  by  us,  say- 
ing that  the  enemy  would  be  upon  us  in  a  few  minutes.  Sure 
enough,  as  we  reached  the  opposite  bank  the  enemy  appeared 
in  sight.  Colonel  Ramsey  placed  the  left  wing  of  his  regiment 
in  ambush,  while  lie  formed  the  line  of  battle  with  the  right 
wing,  and  immediately  sent  a  dispatch  to  General  Garnett,  who 
was  nine  miles  in  advance,  informing  him  of  his  situation. 

The  enemy  pressed  on,  and  Colonel  Ramsey  was  compelled  to 
give  way ;  the  left  wing  was  now  cut  off,  as  the  enemy  rushed 
in  between  it  and  the  right  wing.  We  crossed  the  river  again, 
half  mile  below,  and  Colonel  Ramsey  placed  the  right  wing  in 
ambush.  We  fought  desperately  for  a  short  time  ;  we  soon  had 
to  give  away  again,  and  in  a  short  time  we  came  up  with  the 
artillery  and  the  twenty-third  Virginia  Regiment,  formed  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  ready  to  give  the  enemy  a  warm  recep- 
tion. Colonel  Ramsey  formed  on  them,  and  an  engagement 
took  place,  which  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Carriers  Ford ; 
General  Garnett  was  killed.  We  then  continued  the  retreat, 
marching  day  and  night  without  any  subsistence,  until  the  sev- 
enteenth of  the  month,  w^hen  the  command  reached  Franklin. — 


KETKEAT    FROM    LAUREL    B&L.  9 

During  the  retreat  the  main  body  of  our  troops  passed  through 
the  corner  of  the  State  of  Maryland — the  distance  travelled 
during  the  retreat,  is  two  hundred  miles.  The  suffering  endur- 
ed while  marching  five  or  six  days  and  nights  over  a  rough 
mountainous  road,  with  nothing  to  eat,  is  scarcely  describable. 
The  left  wing  bad  to  make  its  way  through  the  mountains  ;  a 
great  many  came  very  near  starving.  I  was  cut  off  in  the 
mountains  with  a  small  squad,  and  the  manner  in  which  I  made 
my  escape  is  explained  in  a  letter  which  I  wrote  to  a  friend,  a): 
extract  of  which  was  published;  here  is  the  extract  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  &  /,  with  a  slight  alteration  : 

THE  FIftST  GEOKGIA  KKULMEXT. 

Oscar  .V.  Cantrell,  of  Campbellton,  who  is  a  member  of  the 
Xewnan  Guards,  attached  to  the  I  ■     rgia  R<  giraent,  writes 

from  Monterey,  Virginia,  ui  fe  of  July  lrjth,  as  follows: 

Our  Colonel   gave  the  command  to  \  which  I  did  not 

hear.    The  guns  had  ceased  fi  i     was  raining  very  hard 

all  the  time,  and  we  Were  all  wet  as  water  could  make  u<.  I  I  r 
men  retreated,  find,  before  T  knew  they  had  done  bo,  the  enemy 
was  p  on  after  oar  army.     1  was  sittii  1  a  large 

tree,  on  th«   Bldfl  of  the  mountain,   within  one  hundred 
the  road  when  an  hour  or  fc 

kept  peeping  around  at  them,  and  >:\.w  nearly  their  whole  force. 

During  all  this  time  (from  the  time  we  left  Laurel  Uiil  on 
Tuesday  night)  we  had  not  had  any  food,  and  it  raining  tin- 
greater  portion  of  the  time.  Our  men  were  in  no  condition  to 
right,  even  an  equal  number,  but  had  to  fight  treble  our  one 

I  will  tell  you  how  I  made  my  escape,  I  lay  close  to  my  tree 
until  nearly  night,  ******  when  I  went  up  the 
mountain  side  and  found  twenty  other  men  who  had  been  cut 
off  in  the  same  manner  that  I  had — one  of  whom  was  a  captain. 
We  went  over  the  mountain  and  camped.  We  had  not  yet 
eaten  anything,  and  I  assure  you  we  suffered  with  hunger. — 
Next  morning  we  came  across  the  enemy's  picket  guard,  and 
made  them  run.  Some  of  them  were  on  horses.  One  left  his 
gun  and  blanket.  We  took  the  blanket,  but  left  the  gun,  as 
each  of  us  had  a  gun,  and  no  one  of  us  was  willing  to  carry 
another.  We  travelled  on  a  little  farther,  and  came  into  tb; 
road  among  the  Yankees.     They  halted  us.     I  thought  to  my- 


10  1U.TTLE    VF    G  RISEN    BRIER    RIVKR. 

self  that  we  were  prisoners,  but  there  was  a  man  in  the  compa- 
ny who  had  formerly  lived  in  Pennsylvania,  and  we  put  him 
before  to  do  the  talking.  He  told  them  that  we  were  volun. 
teers  from  Tioga  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  were  going  to  join 
the  army.  They  told  us  to  go  ahead  and  help  flog  the  rebels. 
Thus,  claiming  to  be  abolitionists,  we  passed  through  them. — 
As  soon  as  we  got  out  of  sight,  we  took  the  woods  and  travel- 
led in  the  mountains,  wandering  about  for  three  or  four  days, 
with  but  little  to  eat.  I  never  before  knew  what  it  was  to 
suffer. 

Finally,  we  reached  a  road  that  lead  to  Franklin,  Pendleton 
County.  At  the  distance  of  twenty  miles  from  that  place,  my 
legs  pained  me  so  that  I  was  compelled  to  cease  travelling,  and 
the  party  that  I  was  travelling  with  left  me.  I  rested  anight, 
and  half  a  day,  and  then  hired  a  horse  and  rode  to  Franklin. 
When  I  arrived  there  I  met  the  regiment,  (that  is,  what  was 
left,)  and  to-day  we  arrived  at  this  place,  where  we  will  stay 
one  or  two  months  to  gain  our  strength  again.  The  largest 
body  of  our  troops  stayed  together  until  the  last  engagement.  • 
When  our  General  got  killed  we  ail  got  scattered,  and  every 
one's  aim  was  to  take  care  of  himself.  I  do  not  know  how 
many  of  our  men  were  killed,  but  there  are  a  great  many  miss- 
ing. They  are  scattered  all  over  the  mountains,  and  some  will 
never  get  out  I  fear.  We  lost  all  our  baggage.  Our  captain 
has  gone  to  Richmond,  as  I  suppose,  to  learn  what  is  to  be  done 
with  the  remnant  of  our  men. 

The  citizens  of  Franklin  had  plenty,  of  provisions  prepared 
for  us,'but  a  great  many  could  not  eat,  and  numbers  died  from 
the  fatigue  and  exposure  of  the  retreat. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BATTLE  OP  GREEN  BKIER  BIVEB. 


In  September  our  regiment  was  ordered  to  Greenbrier  River, 
in  Pocahontas  County,  and  on  the  third  of  October  the  battle 
of  Greenbrier  River  was  fought.     The  enemy  attacked  nfc 
in  the  morning,  and  the  battle  continued  until  one  o'clock,  when 


BATTLE    OF    OUEKN    FKILIi    JilVHli.  11 

the  enemy  fled  from  the  battle  field  in  double  quick  time,  leav- 
ing the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  many  guns,  cartridge-boxes,  can- 
teens, &c. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  battle,  I  wrote  the  following  letter  to 
A.  G.  Murray,  editor  of  the  Southern  Union: 

<  AMI'  JJARToW,  GREENBRIER  RIVER,  I 

Pocahontas  County,  Virginia,  Oct.  29,  1861.  jj" 

Dear  *S7r, — Seated  by  a  warm  fire  in  front  of  my  tent,  I  pro- 
ceed to  write  you  a  letter  containing  the  news  from  northwest- 
ern Virginia.  As  it  is  probable  that  you  have  heard  of  the 
battle  fought  at  this  place  on  the  third  instant,  resulting  in  our 
victory,  I  will  not  attempt  to  relate  the  proceedings  ol  that 
day,  but  will  tell  you  something  of  the  military  movements 
since  that  time. 

For  the  last  two  week*,  the  enemy's  scouts  have  been  firing 
at  our  pickets  nearly  every  day.  Our  pickets  invariably  return 
the  fire.  Several  men  have  been  wounded  on  both  sides,  but 
there  has  been  none  killed  since  the  battle  of  the  third.  Daj 
before  yesterday  three  hundred  of  the  enemy  attacked  our  pick- 
ets, forty  or  fifty  in  number,  which  were  stationed  about  five 
miles  from  camp,  in  the  direct!  •  my's  camp,  drove 

them  in,  and  set  fire  to  a  dwelling  house  which  was  occupied 
by  our  pickets  during  wet  Weather.  The  house  was  soon  re- 
duced to  ashes,  but  th<  occupy  their  former  positions. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle,  some  of  the  enemy  appeared  at 
our  extreme  picket  posts  with  trnce, asking  f>ermlssion 

to  visit  the  battle  field  t<  of  their  dead,  but  General 

Jackson  would  not  permit  them  to  do  SO,  because 
dressed  to  him  was  not  signed  by  their  ( 

The  enemy's  camf*  is  ten  miles  north  of  this  place,  on  top  of 
Cheat  Mountain.  Their  number  i*  supposed  to  be  six  thousand, 
nnder  the  command  of  General  Reynolds. 

The  force  we  have  at  this  place  is,  the  fir^t  and  twelfth  Geor- 
gia Regiments,  four  Virginia  regiments,  one  Arkansas  regiment, 
four  artillery  companies  with  sixteen  pieces,  and  one  or  two 
battallions.  We  are  strongly  fortified,  and  are  commanded  by 
General  Henry  R.  Jackson,  of  Georgia. 

The  health  of  this  regiment  is  ranch  better  than  it  was  during 
the  months   of   August  an  1  September.     There  is  very  little 


12  BATTLE    OP    GREEN    BRIER  RIVER. 

sickness  now  in  camp.  We  procured  a  splendid  brass  band  last 
month,  which  adds  a  great  deal  to  the  regiment.  The  music 
revives  the  feelings  of  the  soldier  who  is  fir  from  home. 

This  is  a  mountainous  country,  and  the  weather  is  setting  in 
cold.  On  the  night  of  the  twenty-third  of  this  month,  we  had 
some  snow.  We  will  soon  be  compelled  to  abandon  this  place 
and  go  into  winter  quarters.  There  are  a  great  many  soldiers 
engaged  in  building  on  top  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain,  which 
is  eight  or  tea  miles  south  of  this  place,  for  the  troops  to  stay 
in  dining  the  winter.  I  suppose  the  Virginians  will  be  quarter- 
ed there,  as  it  is  probable  this  regiment  will  be  ordered  south, 
perhaps  to  the  coast  of  Georgia.     I  am,  etc. 

OSCAU  A.  CANTltELL. 

Early  one  morning,  General  Jackson  moved  up  to  attack  the 
enemy  who  was  well  fortified  on  the  top  of  Cheat  Mountain. — 
He  selected  eighty  men,  and  sent  them  in  advance  to  surround 
the  enemy's  pickets  before  daylight,  and  take  them  prisoners. 
They  succeeded  in  surrounding  the  pickets,  but  about  daylight 
the  gun  of  one  of  our  men  was  discharged  accidentally,  and  the 
pickets  became  alarmed,  and  came  rushing  down  the  road  near 
where  our  men  were  concealed  in  a  thicket.  As  soon  as  our 
men  saw  them  they  lired  into  them,  and  killed  in  all  about  one 
dozen.  The  eighty  men  then  advanced  in  the  direction  of  our, 
camp,  and  met  General  Jackson  and  command,  at  a  short  turn 
in  the  road,  on  the  mountain  side.  Each  party  thought  that 
the  other  was  the  enemy,  and  a  considerable  battle  was  fought 
amoi-g  our  own  men,  in  which  several  were  killed  and  wounded. 
One  was  killed  in  the  company  that  I  was  a  member  of,  and  one 
was  wounded. 

A  few  days  afterwards,  one  of  the  blue  coated  soldiers  stray- 
ed off  of  Cheat  Mountain,  and  was  soon  so  far  from  camps  that 
he  did  not  know  what  direction  to  travel  in  to  get  back.  He 
came  to  a  house  where  no  one  was  present,  except  a  young  lady 
and  three  little  boys — the  oldest  of  which  was  about  nine  years 
old.  He  left  his  musket  in  the  yard  leaning  against  the  house, 
and  stepped  into  the  dining  room  to  get  his  dinner.  One  of 
the  little  boys  immediately  seized  3iis  musket,  while  the  other 
two  took  two  guns  belonging  to  their  father  from  the  rack,  and 
they  all  took  their  stand  at  the  dining  room  door.  When  the! 
soldier  came  to  the  door,  he  inquired  the  route  to  Cheat  Moun- 


BATTLE    OF    GREEN"    BBJKR    KiVKU.  13 

tain.  The  boys  all  presented  their  guns  at  him,  and  said  go  be- 
fore us  and  we  will  show  you  your. route.  They  marched  him 
immediately  to  our  camp,  and  delivered  him  to  General  Jack- 
son. The  soldiers  made  up  a  purse  oi"  money  and  gave  to  the 
little  boys  for  their  courage  and  patriotism. 

Oar  company  was  sent  on  ne  eold  night  in  Not<  mber, 

and  daring  the  nigl  1  a  prisoner  who  had  a  tender- 

footed,  poor,  shabby,  old,  no-account,  trilling,  good-for-nothing, 
sheepish-looking  horse.     Returning  to  camp  in  the  mornit  j 
came  to  the  river,  Whtc  i  on  a  log,  but  persons 

on  horseback  <  t  the  ford,  which  was  very  deep  at  that 

season  of  the  ;  •  ar.  One  <>f  our  corporals  was  very  anxious  to 
ride  the  captured  animal  across  the  stream,  and  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  captain  to  do  so.  Our  corporal  mounted  the 
horse,  and  we  i  see  him   ride   across. 

Midway  the  river  our  i  ■.  n.  and   our  corporal  lloats 

off  in  the  water  d  -.     Ojiir  i  abandons 

the  horse  in  the  middle  oi  the  stnum,  and  gets  t<>  the  bank 
with  all   possible   P]  .11   this  time  the  company  was  m  an 

uproar  of  laughter  at  the  corporal's 

the  ground,  and  (he  weather  being  very  cold,  our  corporal's 
clothes  w«  iched  ca 

Our  Butiei  receivi  b  supply  <>'.'  whtsl 

soldiers  concluded  that  he  would  cheat  the  old  gentleman  out 
of  a  quart.    The  soldier  had  two  Mack  1  the  same  size: 

i  tie  filled  one  with  water,  and  placed  one  in  each  pocket,  and 
went  to  the  sutler  in  the  night  and  handed  him  his  empty  boUle 
to  be  fdled  with  whisky;  after  the  bottle  was  filled,  and  the 
soldier  had  placed  it  back  in  his  pocket,  he  remarked  to  the  sut- 
ler, (well  knowing  that  he  sold  his  whisky  only  for  cash)  that 
he  would  settle  with  him  in  a  few  dnys.  The  sutler  replied  that 
he  must  pay  the  money  immediately,  or  return  the  whisky. 
The  soldier  handed  him  the  bottle  of  water,  telling  him  to 
empty  it  quick,  as  he  was  in  a  great  hurry  and  wanted  his  bot- 
tle. The  trick  succeeded,  and  the  soldier  returned  to  his  quar- 
ters plus  a  quart  of  whisky,  thinking  how  well  the  suttlers 
whisky  was  watered,  and  how  easily  the  trick  was  played. 

The  Virginia  soldiers  were  frequently  speculating  off  of  the 
Georgians,  and  during  our  march  through  the  mountains,  we 
came  to  a  rich  little  valley  called  Crabb  bottom.     Some  of  the 


14  UNFEELING  SOLDIERS. 

Georgians  had  visited  a  still  house  during  the  day,  and  were, 
somewhat  intoxicated.  TVTe  stopped  to  camp  for  the  night,  and 
this  intoxicated  crowd  had  just  bought  a  lot  of  apples  at  twenty 
cents  per  dozen,  when  a  Virginia  soldier  came  along  with  a  sack 
of  apples,  and  stopped  where  they  were,  and  offered  to  sell 
these  apples  at  fifty  cents  per  dozen.  One  of  the  boys  took  the 
sack  and  struck  him  over  the  head  with  it.  The  sack  was  rot- 
ten, and  it  tore  almost  to  strings.  The  apples  fell  in  every  di- 
rection. The  whole  crowd  began  to  pelt  the  Virginian  with 
the  apples ;  he  began  to  beg,  but  they  only  pelted  him  the  hard- 
er; he  then  began  to  run,  and  the  crowd  pursued  until  they 
ran  him  out  of  camps. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

UNFEELING    SOLDIERS. 

On  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac  river,  just  opposite  the 
town  of  Hancock,  Maryland,  the  Yankees  established  a  camp, 
and  in  January,  1881,  our  army,  under  General  Stonewall  Jack- 
son, rushed  upon  the  "  Yanks"  and  drove  them  across  the  river. 
A  number  of  soldiers  were  immediately  detailed  to  proceed  to 
a  dwelling  which  stood  near  the  camp,  in  which  commissary 
stores  were  kept,  to  assist  our  .commissary  in  removing  the 
stores  to  our  camp.  I  was  one  of  that  detail.  All  the  family 
were  absent  except  two  little  girls.  When  I  arrived  at  the 
house  there  was  about  half  a  dozen  soldiers  crowded  around 
the  table ;  they  had  entered  the  pantry  and  taken  out  its  con- 
tents, which  consisted  of  bread  and  honey,  and  were  busily 
engaged  in  eating.  As  I  entered  the  door  I  heard  the  little 
girls  crying;  they  said  they  had  but  little  for  themselves  to  eat, 
and  the  soldiers  had  taken  it  all  from  them.  The  soldiers  in- 
vited me  to  eat  with  them.  I  remarked  that  I  never  yet  had 
eaten  bread,  while  children  stood  around  me  crying  for  it. 

A  soldier  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia  entered  an  old  lady's 
milk  house  and  began  to  drink  her  milk  without  permission. 
The  old  lady  locked  the  door  and  kept  the  youngster  in  prison 
until  nisht. 


IN!-'.  13 

Great  Courage  of  Soldierk — While  the  First  Georgia  Reg- 
iment was  at  Romney,  Virginia,  General  Loring  sent  a  train  of 
forage  wagons  to  the  town,  of  Moorefidd,  and  fearing  that  the 
enemy's  cavalry  would  cut  them  off  and  capture  them,  he  sent 
Captain  Houser,  with  a  detachment  of  men,  to  meet  the  train 
on  its  return,  and  protect  it  until  it  readied  camps  again. 
eordingly  Captain  Houser  and  his  men  started  about  ten  o'clock 
at  night.  It  Mas  one  of  the  coldest  nights  of  January,  and  the 
snow  lay  several  inches  deep  «>:i  the  ground.  They  traveled 
several  miles  and  came  to  a  deep  creek,  hich  had  to  be  crossed 
by  wading.  Some  spoke  of  returning  to  camp,  and  some  said 
that  it  was  too  cold  to  m  said  they  would  fol- 

low the  captain  wherever  he  went.  Tho  captain  lead  tfio  way, 
and  the  whole  party  followed,  and  in  a  short  timo  the  dread 
was  over;  but  tin  reply  travelled  a  hundred  yards  bo- 

fore  the  water  on  their  dothrs  vr:^   frozen  to  ice.     They  soou 
got  some  fire,  and  took  a  complete  thawing.     They 
the  following  day  safely  with  trail 

The  day  after  the  return  of  the   Pora  in,  1  was  sent  on 

picket,  and  W«  '    on  the  extreme  post,  which  was  about 

five  miles  from  camp,  and  during  the  night  it  snowed  again,  and 
about  two  hours  before  day  a  courier  came  with  orders  1 
pickets  to   return   to   camp,  as  the  whole  army  was   going   t«> 
march  to  Winchester.     We  were  within  one  mile  of  camp 
we  met   another   eourier,  with    •  for  us  to  return   to   our 

posts.  At  ten  o'clock  orders  came  again  for  us  to  report  to 
camps,  and  on  reaching  the  place  we  just  had  time  to  foil  into 
ranks,  when  the  whole  command  started. 

In  the  streets  of  Romney  were  a  great  many  yi 
to   their   axlctrees,  which    we  burnt,   to    keep    them   from   the 
enemy.      We   travelled    all    day    and  night,    wading    a 
many  creeks,  after  which,  in   a  few  minu*  vrould 

be  frozen  stiff  with  ice;  all  the  rails  near  the  road  were  burnt; 
there  was  a  large  rail  lire  about  every  ten  steps.  In  .a  few  days 
we  reached  Winchester  again,  where  we  stayed  for  a  short  time. 
During  that  time  an  old  gentleman  brought  a  cart  load  of  pies 
into  camp3  to  sell.  The  soldiers  soon  surrounded  his  cart,  and 
while  some  were  conversing  with  him  to  attract  his  attention, 
others  were  ungearing  his  horse;  as  soon  as  the  horse  was  free 
one  of  the  boys  gave  the  cart,  the  body  of  which  was  full  of 


16  THE  REGIMENT  AT  KINGS VILLUS. 

soldiers,  a  start,  and  away  it  went  down  a  steep  hill;  the  pies 
fell  in  every  direction,  and  were  soon  picked  up  by  the  boys  ; 
the  cart  soon  reached  the  foot  of  the  hill,  when  the  shafts  sud- 
denly struck  the  ground,  which  broke  them  off,  and  threw  the 
old  gentleman,  and  the  cart  load  of  soldiers  over  the  front  gate 
of  .the  cart  body,  crippling  some  of  them  severely. 

About  the  middle  of  February  we  were  ordered  to  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  and  proceeded  to  Strasburg,  where  we  remained  a 
few  days,  t©  prepare  provisions  to  last  us  the  trip. 

We  got  as  far  as  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  on  our  route  to  Knox- 
ville, and  could  get  no  further,  as  the  recent  heavy  rains  had 
injured  the  East  Tennessee  and  Virginia  Railroad,  so  that  it  had 
to  be  repaired  before  any  travelling  could  be  done  on  it.  We 
remained  at  Lynchburg  one  week,  when,  as  our  term  of  service 
lacked  only  a  few  days  of  expiring,  Ave  delivered  our  arms  to 
General  E.  Kirby  Smith,  and  took  the  cars  for  Augusta,  Geor- 
gia, about  the  4th  of  March ;  travelled  by  the  way  of  Peters- 
burg, Virginia,  and  then  took  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon 
Railroad,  and  arrived  at  Kingsville,  South  Carolina,  March  8th, 
1862. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FIRST  GEORGIA  REGIMENT  AT  KINGSVILLE,  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

The  regiment,  numbering  about  seven  hundred,  reached 
Kingsville  at  sunset,  March  8,  1862,  and  having  had  nothing 
to  eat  since  passing  through  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  which 
was  about  twenty-four  hours  previous,  we  all  felt  very  much 
like  eating.  There  was  but  one  hotel  in  the  place,  and  that  was 
kept  by  Dutch  people.  They  agreed  to  set  supper  for  us ;  there 
was  only  room  at  the  table  for  about  fifty  persons  to  sit ;  a  great 
many  members  of  the  regiment  had  take  ]  a  little  more  than  an 
average  supply  of  whisky,  and  while  supper  was  preparing 
several  fights  took  place  in  the  passage  near  the  dining-room 
door.  As  soon  as  supper  wras  announced,  there  wTas  a  general 
rush  made  for  the  dining-room.  The  door-keeper,  who  tried  to 
keep  order,  was  soon  knocked  down  and  run  over.  Finding 
that  getting  in  at  the  door  was  a  very  slow  process,  they  soon 
began  to  leap  in  at  the  windows,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the 


RECEPTION*    OF    THE    REGIMENT    AT     .  I, 

dining-room  was  crowded,  and  in  the  shortest  time  imaginable 
everything  was  taken  off  the  table;  all  was  "broken  loose," 
and  every  man  was  for  himself.  Some  had  sugar-dishes,  filling 
their  pockets  with  sugar,  and  some  had  coffee-pots  turned  almost 
upside  down,  drinking  coffee  out  of  the  spouts,  while  other* 
were  drinking  coffee  out  of  plates ;  one  soldier  took  a  ball  of 
butter  from  the  table,  and  meeting  with  another  who  had  a  loaf 
of  bread,  he  soon  effected  an  exchange  of  half  the  butter  for 
half  the  bread  ;  he  pulled  the  butter  apart  with  his  hands  ;  the 
remaining  half  of  the  butter  he  spread  on  his  bread  with,  his 
right  hand,  which  reminded  me  of  a  mason  spreading  mortar 
on  bis  bricks  with  a  trowel.     I  be  kitchen,  and  a  crowd 

•niiding  arou  love  busily  engaged  in 

eating  ipe.     Evei  s  was  in  a  perfect  uproar, 

and  a  great  many  dish*  u  before  supper  was  over. 

The  old  Dutch  lady,  with  her  }  eculiar  way  of  talking,  was  all 
the  time  abusing  at.     The  old  Dutchman  was  very  much  fright- 

t  a  cent 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RECEPTION  OF  7.  BNT  AT  AUOl     I 

At  sunrise  of  the  ninth  of  March,  I  rolled  inl 

ta,  with  the  First  Gc  ginient.     A  lovely-looking  flag, 

which  was  surrounded  with  nice  cedar  twigs,  vines  and  flowers 
was  placed  near  the  depot.  On  the  flag  were  these  words, 
tifully  worked  with  the  twigs  of  cedar,  "  A  hearty  welcome 
home."  The  ladies  in  large  numbers  favored  us  with  their 
presence.  The  regiment  was  marched  to  the  different  hotels, 
two  companies  stopping  together.  We  had  the  best  fare  that 
the  city  afforded,  free  of  charge. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  following  day,  Colonel  Ramsey  formed  his 
regiment  at  the  car  shelter,  and  marched  it  into  the  city.  We 
scarcely  had  room  to  march  for  the  multitude  that  thronged  the 
streets.  Col.  Ramsey  drew  us  up  in  close  column  by  division, 
and  delivered  us  a  short  and  eloquent  address.  The  Adjutant 
then  arose  and  read  the  order  mustering  us  out  of  service, 
which  stated  that  each  member  of  the  regiment  was  then  hon 
orably  discharge! 


HISTOR1T. 

;he 

56th  REGIMENT  GA,  VOLUNTEERS, 


CHAPTER    VII. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  TUE  REGIMENT. 

On  the  25th  day  of  April,  1862,  a  company  was  organized, 
at  Carnpbellton,  Georgia,  the  members  of  which  gave  it  the 
name  of  the  "Campbell  Spartans";  and  on  t«he  26th  day  of 
April  the  company  was  mustered  into  the  Confederate  States 
service,  by  Col.  E.  P.  Watkins,  for  the  term  of  three  years  or 
daring  the  war.  On  the  13th  day  of  May  the  company  started 
and  arrived  at  Big  Shanty,  Cobb  county,  Georgia,  and  on  the 
15th  day  of  May  the  Fifty-Sixth  Regiment  Georgia  Volunteers 
was  organized ;  which  organization  resulted  as  follows:  E.  P. 
Watkins,  Colonel ;  J.  T.  Slaughter,  Lieutenant  Colonel;  M.  L 
Pool,  Major;  G.  W.  Poddy,  Surgeon;  A.  S.  Whitaker, 
tant  Surgeon  ;  W.*  J.  Stokes,  Quartermaster ;  A.  W.  Stokes, 
Quartermaster's  Sergeant ;  S.  S.  Kingsbury,  Commissary  ;  Levi 
Ballard,  Commissary's  Sergeant;  J.N.  Bass,  Adjutant;  Daniel 
F.  Brewster,  Sergeant  Major ;  Leander  B.  Watkins,  Ordnance 
Sergeant ;  and  John  Valvin,  Wagon  Master. 

The  Campbell  Spartans,  .being  the  senior  company,  were 
placed  in  the  regiment  as  company  A ;  the  other  companies 
were  arranged  according  to  the  rank  of  their  captains,  as  fol- 
lows :  Capt.  Spearman's,  of  Heard  county,  company  K ;  Capt. 
Albert's,  of  Atlanta,  company  E ;  Captain  Grice's,  of  Carroll 
county,  company  C ;  Captain  Streetman's,  of  Forsyth  county, 
company  G ;  Captain  Martin's,  of  Carroll  county,  company  B  ; 
Captain  Cobb's,  of  Villa  Rica,  company  I ;  Captain  Prather's, 
of  Cobb  county,  company  F:    Captain  Monroe's,  of  Forsyth 


20  ORGANIZATION    OF  THE    REGIMENT. 

county,  company  D ;  and  Captain  Parish's,  of  Carroll  county, 
company  H. 

This  place  was  called  Camp  McDonald,  and  it  being  a  canip 
of  instruction,  strict  attention  was  paid  to  the  drilling  of  the 
men  until  the  second  of  June,  when  the  regiment  moved  to 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  guarded  the  city  until  June  13th,  when 
orders  were  received  for  Colonel  Watkins  to  report  in  Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee,  with  his  regiment,  and  accordingly,  early 
next  morning,  the  old  freight  train  rolled  into  Chattanooga  with 
Colonel  Watkins  and  his  regiment,  and  a  few  days  afterwards 
the  regiment  drew  arms. 

June  19th  we  got  aboard  the  train,  and  about  midnight  ar- 
rived at  Shell  Mound,  a  station  on  the  railroad,  twenty  miles 
from  Chattanooga.  Although  it  was  in  June,  the  night  was 
very  cool,  and  no  wood  being  near  the  railroad,  the  boys  tore 
to  pieces  an  unoccupied  house,  and  from  then  until  morning, 
large  fires  were  kept  up,  in  which  the  greater  portion  of  the 
house  was  used  for  fuel.  The  day  following  we  spent  in  what 
a  sensible  man  would  term  the  wilderness,  i.  e.  between  two 
high  mountains  thickly  covered  with  timber. 

June  21st,  early  in  the  morning.  We  are  now  marching 
along  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee  river,  the  waters  of  which 
can  scarcely  be  seen  through  the  dense  fog  which  is  gathered 
over  its  surface.  Six  o'clock,  P.  M.— Witnessed  a  skirmish 
which  took  place  to-day  between  our  forces  on  one  side  the 
river,  and  the  enemy  on  the  other  side.  The  loss  on  our  side 
was  one  killed ;  the  loss  of  the  enemy  was  one  killed  and  one 
wounded.  Our  cavalry  crossed  the  river  and  took  three  prison- 
ers. The  regiment  has  just  returned  to  Chattanooga. 
•  June  22d.  Visited  Salt-Petre  Cave,  which  begins  at  the 
northern  base  of  Lookout  Mountain,  where  it  joins  the  Ten- 
nessee river  two  miles  from  Chattanooga,  and  extends  further 
into  the  mountain  than  any  human  being  has  ever  yet  ventured. 
In  advancing  along  this  cave  "I  beheld  wonders  which  were 
new  to  me."  On  the  walls,  which  consist  principally  of  huge 
rocks,  are  hundreds  of  names,  some  of  which  were  placed  there 
at  a  very  early  date.  Besides  the  main  channel,  there  are  nu- 
merous minor  caves,  which  branch  off  in  almost  every  direction. 
About  one  mile  from  its  mouth  I  came  to  a  number  of  Irish- 
men, who  were  spading  the  dirt  from  among  the  rocks  for  the 


OUT.  CAMPAIGN  IX  KENTUCKY.  21 

purpose  of  making  saltpetre.  Large  quantities  of  saltpetre  are 
taken  from  this  cave  annually.  A  few  paces  from  the  mouth  of 
the  cave  is  the  blowing  spring,  from  which  a  current  of  cool  air 
is  continually  gushing. 

June  23(3.  Early  in  the  morning  started  on  a  freight  tram 
tor  Knoxville ;  was  very  much  crowded,  as  the  regiment  at  that 
time  numbered  about  one  thousand ;  travelled  by  the  way  oi 
Dalton,  Georgia,  and  reached  Knoxville  the  following  day. 

June  26.  Rode  on  the  cars  from  Knoxville  to  Chattanooga. 
It  rained  during  the  night,  and  not  having  our  tents  stretched 
we  got  a  complete  wetting. 

July  7.  Moved  thirteen  miles  down  the  railroad,  and  pitched 
our  camp,  which  in  honor  of  our  commanding  General  we  gave 
the  name  of  Camp  Leadbetter,  at  the  stone  tunnel ;  here  we 
remained,  breathing  the  cool  mountain  air,  drinking  the  pure 
and  clear  Tennessee  water,  and  gathering  and  eating  the  ripe 
black  and  whortleberries,  until  the  14th  of  July,  when  we 
struck  our  tents,  and  put  them  up  again  that  evening  at  Bridge- 
port, Jackson  county,  Alabama,  at  which  place  Major  Pool 

■; «.'<!,  and  returned  home.     Afterwards  Captain  Jar 
Brewster,  by  promotion,  became  major  of  the  regiment. 

July  30th*.  Right  wing  of  the  regiment  took  the  train  and 
proceeded  to  Tyner's  station.  Here  we  were  under  such  strict 
orders,  that  no  soldier  was  allowed  outside  the  guard  lines. 
When  water  was  wanted,  five  men,  under  charge  of  a"  non- 
commissioned officer,  was  sent  to  the  spring. 

August  1st.  Left  wing  came  up,  and  the  whole  regiment 
proceeded  to  Knoxville,  arriving  late  in  the  evening. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OUR  CAMPAIGN  IN  KENTUCKY. 

On  the  4th  day  of  August,  1862,  our  regiment  turned  over 
all  its  tents,  and  most  of  its  cooking  utensils,  to  the  Quarter- 
master at  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  and  began  to  march  in  the 
direction  of  Kentucky.  The  day  was  bright  and  clear,  and  the 
rays  of  heat  from  the  mid-day  sun  came  down  upon  us  with 


22  OUR  CAilPAIGX  IX  KENTrOKY. 

almost  melting  power.  The'  dust  rose  around  us  like  smoke 
from  the  burning  prairie ;  this,  together  with  the  cartridge-box 
buckled  around  the  waist,  gun  on  the  shoulder,  and  a  heavy 
knapsack  of  clothing  and  a  blanket  on  the  back,  proved  to  be 
very  tiresome  and  disagreeable  to  the  soldier,  and  especially  to 
the  members  of  the  Fifty-Sixth  regiment,  the  most  of  whom 
were  at  that  time  strangers  to  the  hardships  of  the  soldier's 
life ;  as  we  marched  along  numbers  from  ef  ery  company  fell  out 
of  ranks.,  and  little  did  they  think  that  they  had  that  day  begun 
a  campaign  of  three  months  almost  incessant  marching,  day  and 
night,  part  of  the  time  with  nothing  to  eat  and  no  water  to 
drink.  On  the  following  day  we  reached  Clinton,  Tennessee, 
where  we  stayed  for  a  short  time.  During  our  stay  at  Clinton, 
the  battle  of  Tazewell,  Tennessee,  took  place,  and  our  regiment 
was  ordered  there  as  reinforcements. 

MY  TRIP  TO  KNOXVILLE. 

I  was  immediately  detailed  by  General  Heth  to  repair  to 
Knoxville,  eighteen  miles  distant,  where  he  said,  by  reporting 
to  the  Bell  House,  I  would  find  Captain  Selden,  who  would  have 
a  train  of  wagons  loaded  with  ordnance  stores,  ready  for  me  to 
take  charge  of,  and  for  me  to  take  the  nearest  route  and  report 
as  early  as  possible  at  Tazewell.  General  Heth  said,  as  he  had 
no  horse  to  furnish  me  that  I  could  ride  on  a  wagon  as  far  as 
the  railroad,  as  a  train  of  wagons  would  soon  start  for  that 
place.  I  immediately  proceeded  to  the  wagon  yard,  and  learned 
that  the  wagons  were  pressed  by  General  Gracey.  I  then  set- 
out  to  walk  to  the  railroad,  it  being  only  nine  miles,  where  I 
expected  to  take  the  train  for  Knoxville.  The  weather  was  ex- 
tremely warm,  and  I  had  on  my  back  a  considerable  knapsack 
packed  full  of  clothing.  Just  as  I  arrived  in  sight  of  the  sta- 
tion the  whistle  blew,  and  awaf'  went  the  cars  towards  Knox- 
ville. I  then  had  to  continue  my  trip  on  foot ;  and  on  ai  riving 
at  Knoxville,  I  inquired  at  the  Bell  House  for  Captain  Selden, 
and  could  find  no  one  that  knew  him.  I  then  examined  the 
register,  and  saw  that  he  had  dined  there  about  a  week  previ- 
ous. I  then  began  to  search  for  him.  I  visited  every  hotel  and 
public  boarding  house  in  the  city,  and  could  hear  nothing  of 
Selden.  I  then  visited  the  post  ordnance  office,  and  every  gov- 
ernment establishment  in  the  city,  and  could  still  hear  nothing 


OUS  CAMPAIGN  EN  KENTUCKY.  20 

of  Seiden.  There  I  was,  in  a  strange  city,  sent  upon  urgent  and 
important  business,  and  in  search  of  a  man  whom  I  had  never 
seen  ;  my  condition  was  embarrassing,  I  would  not  know  him  if 
I  should  meet  him  in  the  streets  ;  what  should  I  do  ?  go  about 
the  streets  asking  strange  men  if  they  knew  Captain  Seiden. — 
I  concluded  that  that  would'nt  do,  especially  in  a  large  city. 
Not  being  willing  to  return  to  my  command  without  perform- 
ing the  business  upon  which  I  had  been  sent,  after  searching 
two  days  without  any  success,  I  visited  the  headquarters  of 
General  E.  Kirby  Smith,  commanding  department,  and  the  Ad- 
jutant-General informed  me  that  they  knew  nothing  of  him.  I 
began  relating  my  condition  to  a  citizen,  and  he  said  that  Sei- 
den had  just  stepped  up  the  street,  and  would  retain  in  a  short 
time.  Sure  enough,  in  a  few  minutes,  Seiden  returned.  I  in- 
formed him  of  my'business,  and  tojd  him  the  length  of  time  I 
had  been  searching  for  him.  He  replied  that  he  had  been  board- 
ing at  a  private  house.  My  ordanc*  u  -  on  ready,  and 
I  returned  to  my  command,  who  had  marched  ten  miles,  waded 
Clinch  River,  received  news  that  our  forces  I  ad  the  vic- 
tory at  Tazewell,  and  returned  to  Clinton. 

On  the  14th  of  August  wo  again  took  up  the  .  .arch, 

1  through  Jacksboro,  Tennessee,  and  crossed  the  Cumber- 
land Mountain  at  Big  Creek  Gap.  Aug  we  started 
over  this  steep  mountain  about  midnight,  and  it  is  so  awful 
steep  that  we  hitched  about  twelve  horses  to  each  piece  of  ar- 
tillery, fastened  a  long  rope  to  the  end  of  the  tongue,  which  the 
men  took  hold  of,  and  by  that  means  the  men  and  horses  pulled 
them  up  the  mountain  ;  near  the  top  we  halted  to  rest,  and  al- 
though it  was  then  about  the  middle  of  August,  we  were  so 
cold  that  we  kindled  up  fires  to  keep  from  suffering.  At  dawn 
of  day  we  reached  the  top.  "  la  casting  my  eyes  in  almost  any 
direction,"  I  again  "  beheld  wonders  that  were  new  to  me."— 
"  Its  wildness  and  sublimity  filled  me  with  emotions  of  pleasure 
that  I  had  been  hitherto  a  stranger."  Passing  down  the  oppo- 
site side  we  soon  discovered  that  it  had  been  blockaded ;  great 
numbers  of  large  trees  had  been  hewn  across  the  road;  huge 
stones  had  been  rolled  into  it ;  all  of  which  had  been  removed 
by  our  pioneers  who  were  in  advance  of  the  command. 

August  17,  at  sunset,  we  arrived  at  the  foot  of  Pine  Moun- 
tain.    The  night  wa*  dark,  and  the  mountain  rough  and  steep, 


24  OUE  CAMPAIGN  IN  KENTUCKY. 

but  we  had  to  cross  to  the  opposite  side  before  camping.  Next ' 
morning  our  company  was  detailed  to  go  back  over  the  moun- 
tain, and  guard  the  artillery  while  crossing.  We  all  set  down 
to  rest  on  top,  and  I  soon  fell  asleep,  and  when  I  awoke  I  was 
all  alone  on  the  summit  of  that  high  mountain.  It  was  a  wild 
looking  country,  no  mark  of  civilization  could  be  seen,  save  the 
rough  mountain  road.  After  travelling  two  or  three  hours,  as 
fast  as  I  could,  I  caught  up  with  the  company,  who  had  again 
set  down  to  rest. 

We  were  then  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Kentucky  line.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  at  that  time  we  were  attached  to  a  brigade 
that  was  composed  of  a  company  of  artillery,  commanded  by 
Captain  Waddell,  and  three  Georgia  regiments — Colonels  Wat- 
kins',  Johnson's  and  Barkeloo's — commanded  by  General  D. 
Leadbetter.  We  were  informed,  that  as  soon  as  we  entered 
Kentucky  that  we  would  be  attacked  by  a  body  of  men  who 
termed  themselves  Home  Guards,  but  we  called  them  bush- 
whackers. We  were  advancing  on  Boston,  a  small  village  in 
Whitley  County,  Kentucky,  and  sure  enough,  at  the  distance  of 
one  mile  from  the  town,  a  band  of  these  wretches,  numbering 
about  one  hundred,  attacked  Col.  Johnson's  regiment  which  was 
marching  in  front.  Colonel  Johnson's  men  fired  into  them  and 
killed  several,  the  balance  fled  to  the  mountains.  Our  cavalry 
pursued  them,  and  took  some  prisoners,  the  majority  of  which 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  States,  and  were 
immediately  released.  We  marched  into  and  took  possession  of 
the  town  without  any  farther  opposition.  Upon  entering  the 
place,  I  saw  on  the  wall  of  a  dry  goods  store,  written  in  large 
letters,  "Downfall  of  Boston,  August  IS,  18S2." 

We  remained  at-  Boston  three  days,  during  that  time  I  was 
sent  on  picket  together  with  the  company,  captain  and  the  other 
two  lieutenants.  The  company  was  posted  across  a  cornfield, 
and  the  posts  extended  some  distance  into  a  swamp.  It  was 
the  duty  of  the  officers  to  visit  the  different  posts  after  night. 
I  approached  one  of  these  posts  and  heard  the  gun-lock  click. 
I  exclaimed,  officer  of  the  guard,  and  the  gun  fell  from  the  face 
of  the  affrighted  sentinel,  who  said,  speaking  when  you  did 
saved  your  life,  for  I  thought" you  was  a  bushwhacker.  We 
stayed  on  picket  twenty- four  hours,  and  our  diet  was  green  corn 
and  roasted  apples;    It  was  just  two  days  march  to  Barbours- 


OUB  CAMPAIGN  IS  KENTUCKY.  25 

ville,  and  we  travelled  both  days  without  having  any  water  to 
drink,  except  a  little  we  took  from  the  run  of  dried  up  branches, 
which  was  warm,  muddy,  and  very  scarce.  This  was  the  be- 
ginning of  our  suffering  with  thirst,  for  suffer  we  did,  as  the 
weather  was  extremely  hot.  "We  reached  Barboursville,  which 
is  situated  on  the  Cumberland  River,  late  in  the  evening  of  the 
twenty-second  of  August.  The  rain  came  down  in  torrents 
during  that  night.  The  feelings  of  the  poor  soldier  can  readily 
be  imagned,  who,  after  marching  hard  all  day,  lay  down  to  rest 
his  weary  limbs — the  hard  earth  his  only  bed,  knapsack  his  pil- 
low, and  a  sirgle  blanket  his  covering;  no  roof  under  which  he 
could  shelter,  save  the  dark  clouds  and  roaring  winds.  The  of- 
ficers of  each  company,  however,  were  allowed  two  tent  flies  ; 
of  course  there  was  but  little  sleep,  almost  every  one  was 
drenched  with  rain,  and  I  might  say  almost  drowned.  # 

General  E.  Kirby  Smith  was  in  command  of  our  army,  which 
was  called,  previous  to  crossing  the  mountains,  the  army  of 
East  Tennessee,  but  at  that  time  it  was  called  the  army  of  Ken- 
tucky. General  Smith  had  crossed  his  troops  at  the  different 
gaps  in  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  and  had  taken  Barboursville 
before  General  Lendbetter  came  up.  Our  forces  took  a  large 
train  of  wagons,  loaded  with  provisions  for  the  Yankee  army, 
at  Cumberland  Gap.  A  great  many  of  the  wagons  were  taken 
near  Loudon,  Kentucky,  and  were  burnt  with  the  provisions  in 
them,  as  they  were  taken  by  our  cavalry,  who  were  not  in  suffi- 
cient force  to  get  them  away. 

The  enemy  at  Cumberland  *Gap  was  now  completely  cut  off, 
and  our  brigade  was  sent  down  to  Cumberland  Ford  to  give 
them,  fight,  if  they  should  attempt  to  get  away.  There  were 
sixteen  Yankee  regiments  at  the  gap,  who  were  commanded  by 
General  G.  W.  Morgan,  and  their  only  route  of  escape  was  by 
the  way  of  Cumberland  Ford,  which  is  twelve  miles  in  the  rear  ; 
it  is  closed  in  by  mountains,  and  has  a  defile  just  wide  enough 
for  a  wagon  road.  Our  brigade,  numbering  about  twenty-five 
hundred,  guarded  this  narrow  passage,  while  General  E.  Kirby 
Smith,  with  the  remainder  of  his  army,  took  up  the  line  of 
march  towards  Lexington,  to  meet  a  large  force  of  the  enemy 
who  was  advancing  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  Gen.  Morgan. 

The  two  armies  met  ten  miles  south  of  Richmond,  Kentucky, 
at  a  little  village  called  Rogersville.     A   terrible  battle   was 


26  THE  BUSHWHACKERS. 

fought,  in  which  General  Smith  was  victorious — the  enemy  so  on 
gave  way.  The  battle  was  fought  all  the  way  from  Rogersville 
to  Richmond— at  the  latter  place  General  Smith  captured  all  the 
enemy's  artillery.  He  pursued  the  Yankees  beyond  the  Ken- 
tucky River,  and  captured  almost  the  whole  force  that  was  en- 
gaged against  him.  The  most  remarkable  feature  of  this  fight 
was,  that  General  Smith  captured  more  Yankees  than  he  had 
men  engaged  in  the  fight.  It  was  the  most  complete  victory  of 
the  war,  and  will  be  known  in  the  history  of  this  revolution  as 
the  battle  of  Richmond,  Kentucky. 

Just  a  few  days  previous  to  the  above  named  fight,  General 
Smith,  as  I  suppose,  not  knowing  the  strength  of  the  enemy 
with  which  he  was  soon  to  be  engaged,  and  fearing  that  he 
woula  prove  to  be  too  formidable  for  him,  ordered  General 
Leadbet^er  to  reinforce  him*  with  his  brigade  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  accordingly  we  left  Cumberland  Ford  on  the  30th  day  of 
August,  and  that  night  we  camped  in  the  vicinity  of  Barbours- 
ville,  which  is  a  pretty  place,  but  it  is  like  the  whole  of  that 
mountain  country,  filled  with  union  citizens ;  even  the  ladies 
would  go  so  far  as  to  treat  the  Southern  soldier  with  contempt. 

In  writing  a  letter  to  a  friend  I  began  it  thus :  "  Barbours- 
ville  is  a  beautiful  little  village,  situated  on  a  level  plain,  and  is 
almost  surrounded  by  mountains,  whose  high  peaks  and  lofty 
summits,  presents  to  the  eye  a  beautiful  scenery.  This  is  the 
Sabbath;  the  sun  has  just  risen,  and  the  dense  fog  that  envel- 
opes the  summits  of  the  surrounding  peaks,  is  rapidly  vanishing 
before  his  glittering  rays." 


CHAPTER.  IX. 

THE    B  C  S  H  W  H  A  C  K  E  It  S  . 

Gangs  of  bushwhackers  were  scattered  all  through  these  moun- 
tains. These  bushwhackers  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
band  of  thieves  and  robbers ;  they  stay  among  the  high  bluffs 
and  cliffs  of  rocks,  along  the  most  wilderness  parts  of  the  moun- 
tain roads,  and  watch  their  chances  to  pick  up  the  sick  and  bro- 
ken-down soldiers  who  fall  in  the  rear  of  their  command  ;  they 


ft 

THE    BUSHWHACKERS.  27 

treat  these  defenseless  soldiers  sometimes  with  a  groat  deal  of 
cruelty  ;  they  at  times  let  their  vile  passions  rise  to  such  a  height 
that  they  put  them  to  death.  A  member  of  our  company,  bein^ 
very  feeble,  dropped  behind  the  command  near  a  place  called 
Flat  Lick,  Knox  county,  Kentucky,  and  just  so  soon  as  the  reg- 
iment was  out  of  sight,  a  squad  of  these  ruffians  rushed  down 
the  mountain  side,  took  him  prisoner,  and  carried  him  over  the 
mountains  to  their  headquarters,  where  about  one  hundred  of 
their  comrades  were  rendezvoused ;  they  treated  him  shame- 
fully ;  they  took  everything  he  had ;  they  even  took  his  watch 
and  threatened  to  hang  him  ;  they  kept  him  several  days,  giving 
him  little  or  no  food,  and  then  set  him  at  liberty  in  the  moun- 
tains, £o  find  his  way  out  the  best  he  could. 

These  bushwhackers  occasionally  form  ambuscades,  and  when 
an  opportunity  presents  itself,  they  shoot  down  small  parties  of 
soldiers  in  the  road,  and  then  "riddle"  their  pockets. 

During  our  sojourn  in  that  mountain  region,  that  is,  from  the 
eighteenth  until  the  thirtieth  of  August,  our  rations  were  uni- 
form, consisting  of  green  corn,  (or,  in  other  words  roasting 
ears,)'  beef  and  dried  beans. 

On  the  first  of  September  we  passed  through  Lond<  I 
route  to  join  General  Smith.  Nothing  remarkable  took  place 
until  we  arrived  at  Richmond,  which  place  we  reached  a  few 
days  after  the  battle.  On  the  night  of  the  first  of  September, 
we  camped  at  Rock  Castle  river,  and  the  next  day  we  c: 
Big  Hill,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles.  At  the  northern  base  of 
Big  Hill  is  the  beginning  of  the  beautiful  and  wealthy  portion 
of  Kentucky.  Here  wo  quit  tie  rough  mountainous  road,  and 
traveled  on  a  level  macadamized  turnpike.  We  were  now  in  a 
level  country,  and  the  nice  farms  and  magnificent  residences 
could  be  seen  on  either  side  the  road.  What  a  great  contrast 
between  this  and  that  ugly  and  disagreeable  mountain  region, 
which  seems  to  have  been  created  for  varmints  and  wild  Indians 
to  inhabit.  What  a  great  contrast,  also,  between  its  citizens 
and  those  stingy,  envious,  insignificant  mountaineers.  They 
are  enlightened  and  open-hearted,  and  many  of  them  are  true 
to  the  Southern  cause,  or  at  least,  they  showed  the  Southern 
soldiers  a  great  deal  of  hospitality. 

.The  distance  from  Big  Hill  to  Richmond  is  eighteen  miles. 
Our  company  was  vanguard  that  day.     Early  in  the  morning 


i 

28  THE   BUSHWHACKERS. 

we  began  to  meet  paroled  prisoners,  who  had  been  paroled  by 
General  Smith,  and  were  on  the  return  to  their  mountain  homes. 
These  prisoners  were  so  numerous  that  we  were  scarcely  out 
of  sight  of  them  until  we  reached  Richmond.  Our  company 
was  [so  far  in  advance  of  the  regiment  at  one  time,  that  we 
plucked  ears  of  green  corn  from  a  field  and  sat  down  by  the 
road  side  to  roast  them  ;  about  the  time  we  all  began  to  feel  as 
though  we  had  eaten  enough,  the  regiment  appeared  in  sight. 
We  soon  arrived  at  the  spot  where  the  battle  commenced.  A 
scene  then  presented  itself  which  was  new  to  most  of  the  regi- 
ment. Fences  were  taken  down  by  the  retreating  Yankees  to 
form  breastworks  on  both  sides  the  long  and  beautiful  lanes ; 
rails  were  torn  and  split  to  pieces  with  shot  and  shell ;  tlie  earth 
was  ploughed  up  in  many  places  with  lead  from  the  rebel  guns  ; 
the  dwelling-houses  were  crowded  with  the  wounded  of  both 
armies ;  new  graves  could  be  seen  on  the  road  side.  One  grave 
I  noticed  in  particular ;  it  was  a  Yankees  grave,  as  I  discovered 
from  his  blue  uniform ;  he  was  buried  in  this  style :  the  fence 
was  laid  down,  and  at  the  corner  where  the  rails  lapped  a  hole 
was  dug  the  length  of  the  man,  and  about  one  foot  deep ;  he 
was  laid  in  this  hole  and  a  little  dirt  was  thrown  over  him,  and 
the  fence  was  laid  up  again ;  when  we  passed  I  suppose  he  had 
been  buried  about  three  days ;  a  portion  of  the  dirt  by  some 
means  had  been  removed  from  the  top  of  his  body,  and  there 
he  lay,  about  half  exposed,  and  the  green  flies  swarming  around 
him  like  bees  around  the  hive. 

We  were  kindly  received  by  the  citizens  of  Richmond.  It  is 
what  I  term  a  lovely  town.  The  number  of  guns,  cartridge- 
boxes,  &c,  captured  at  this  place  would  astonish  anyone,  if  the 
exact  number  were  known.  I  never  saw  such  a  pile  of  guns 
before  in  all  my  life ;  some  of  the  streets  were  almost  full  of 
them ;  besides  this,  I  was  informed  by  citizens,  that  the  farms 
between  Rogersville  and  Richmond  had  guns  scattered  all 
through  them,  which  the  panic  stricken  Yankees  had  thrown 
away  while  flying  before  the  Confederate  army.  A  citizen 
who  witnessed  the  battle  said  he  knew  one  thing,  and  that  is 
this  :  the  rebels  are  not  afraid  of  the  cannon  balls. 

Our  forces  had  already  occupied  Lexington,  and  were  march- 
ing on  to  Frankfort,  and  the  people  of  Kentucky  now  had,  for 
the  first  time  during  this  great  revolution,  an  opportunity  of 


ENTRANCE  INTO  LEXINGTON'. 

volunteering  in  the  Confederate  cause,  for  the  Confederate 
army  had  never  before  advanced  into  the  interior  of  Kentucky. 
Companies  were  speedily  being  formed  in  different  portions  of 
the  State ;  speeches  were  being  made,  and  Confederate  banners 
were  floating  in  the  breeze,  and  it  seemed  as  if  every  body  wsl 
flocking  to  our  standard.  Late  in  the  evening  we  left  Rich- 
mond, and  travelled  half  the  night,  or  later ;  the  boys  felt  pret- 
ty lively,  as  rations  of  whisky  had  been  issued  that  evening. 
"  It  was  a  calm  still  night,"  and  we  marched  by  the  light  of  the 
i:  silver  shining  moon."  Crowds  of  ladies  and  countrymen 
flocked  to  the  road,  and  while  we  were  passing  they  shout 
the  top  of  their  voices  :  u  hurrah  for  the  Georgia  boys  ;"  while 
we  would  reply,  "hurrah  for  the  ladies  of  Kentucky."     The 

•"Dixie."     We  sung  "  Dixie,"  and  a 
few  o  roued  along. 

The  folio  win  the  Kentucky  river,  which  we 

I  and  proceeded  to  witl  in  thi  .  and 

camp  idy  inforn  neral 

John  II.  Morgan  was  b 


CHAPTER    X. 

ENTRANCE  OF  GENERAL  LEADBETTERS   BRIGADE    □ 

SEPTEMBER  6, 

We  arose  early  iu  the  morning  ty  camp  break! 

loaded  our  baggage,  and  formed  eur  regiments  to  march  in  the 
following  order  :  Colonel  Barkaloo,  with  a  brass  band  at  the 
head  of  his  regiment,  in  front ;  Colonel  Johnson  next ;  an  I 
onel  Watkina  in  the  rear.  Thus  formed  we  advanced  with  the 
route  step  slowly  up  the  road,  until  we  reached  the  subur 
the  city  ;  here  we  halted  to  rest,  having  marched  three  miles, 
iu  which  we  passed  the  former  residence  of  Henry  Clay,  which 
I  would  describe  il  I  had  had  an  opportunity  of  giving  it  a 
examination ;  taking  a  slight  glance  at  it  from  the  road,  J 
judged  it  to  be  a  desirable  place.  In  a  few  minutes  the  com- 
mand attention  was  given,  and  every  man  fell  into  his  place. — 
We  marched  by  the  rank  flank  in  four  ranks,  guns  on  the  right 


30  ENTRANCE  INTO  LEXINGTON. 

shoulder.  The  music  now  began  to  play  at  the  head  of  each 
regiment,  and  the  troops  moved  off  in  the  cadenced  step;  it 
was  like  clock  work,  every  left  foot  touched  the  ground  at  the 
heavy  tap  of  the  drum.*  The  bright  muskets,  with  their  sharp 
bayonets  glittering  in  the  sun  at  each  alternate  step  of  the  sol- 
dier, rocked  to  the  right  and  left  with  as  much  regularity  as  if 
they  had  been  a  single  gun  ;  it  seemed  that  every  one  was  try- 
ing to  do  his  best,  I  never  saw  better  marching  in  my  life. 

General  Leadbetter,  mounted  on  his  fine  bay  horse,  with  the 
wreathed  stars  and  brass  buttons  of  his  new  Confederate  uni- 
form, shining  like  gold,  rode  in  advance  of  his  brigade.  We 
soon  turned  the  first  corner.  All  the  front  piazzas  of  the  first, 
second  and  third  stories  of  the  city  buildings,  were  crowded 
with  ladies  and  children,  who  were  waving  handkerchiefs  and 
shouting  hurrah  for  the  Southern  cause.  Heads  could  be  seen 
at  every  window  ;  the  streets  wTere  crowded  with  men,  women, 
children  and  negroes,  waving  hats,  handkerchiefs  and  Confeder- 
ate flags.  Confederate  banners  were  floating  in  the  breeze#from 
the  tops  of  the  highest  houses.  Numbers  of  ladies  and  gentle- 
men came  in  from  the  country  in  buggies,  carriages,  and  on 
horseback.  A  lady  sitting  in  a  carriage  said  to  Orderly  Thorn- 
ton who,  by  the  way,  is  a  very  nice  little  gentleman,  we  have 
been  receiving  Southern  troops  here  for  two  or  three  days,  I 
have  hurrahed  for  them  until  my  throat  is  sore  ;  I  can't  hurrah 
for  you,  but  if  you  will  come  to  me  I  will  kiss  you.  We  march- 
ed out  to  the  fair  ground  and  stacked  arms. 

It  is  said  to  be  the  grandest  day  that  has  ever  been  in  Lex- 
ington, except  the  day  that  Henry  Clay  was  buried.  It  remind- 
ed me  of  the  picture  of  the  entrance  of  the  American  army  into 
the  Grand  Plaza  of  the  city  of  Mexico.  While  at  Lexington 
we  were  visited  by  ladies,  citizens  and  countrymen,  wTho  brought 
apples,  peaches,  and  provisions  of  all  kinds,  and  distributed 
them  among  us  free  of  charge.  A  little  girl  entered  our  camp 
and  marched  all  through  the  encampment,  singing  a  beautiful 
rebel  song,  having  in  her  hand  at  the  same  time  the  banner  of 
bars  and  stars.  A  large  lot  of  clothing  was  captured  with  the 
place,  and  a  great  many  of  our  brigade  got  them  full  suits  of 
the  Yankee  blue.  * 

At  that  time  there  was  a  force  of  the  enemy  at  Lebanon. — 
Our  brigade,  and  a  brigade  of  Floridians,  left  Lexington  about 


ENTRANCE  INTO  LEXINGTON.  3  1 

midnight  seventh  September,  and  took  breakfast  at  Nicholas- 
ville.  The  citizens  of  this  place  were  generally  sympathizers 
with  the  Yankees,  and  had  but  very  little  use  for  the  Confeder- 
ate soldier.  Travelling  on  we  soon  came  to  Camp  Dick  Robin- 
son, which  is  a  Yankee  camp  of  instruction.  What  citizens  and 
ladies  we  saw  there,  expressed  strong  union  sentimeDts  ;  some 
of  our  boys  and  the  ladies  had  a  considerable  quarrel.  Beyond 
"Dick  Robinson"  we  again  found  people  whose  sympathies 
were  with  us.  At  one  place  a  crowd  of  young  ladies  were  col- 
lected together  and,  although  it  was  the  Sabbath  day,  they  sung 
us  a  secession  song  to  the  chorus  of  "  root  hog  or  die,"  while 
we  "were  passing  most  of  the  dwellings  along  the  road.  Provi- 
sions were  cooked  in  the  best  of  style,  and  out  at  the  gates  wait- 
ing for  us.  We  camped  that  night  on  the  bank  of  the  Ken- 
tucky River  ;  next  day  we  passed  through  Danville,  and  camped 
three  miles  beyond. 

The  people  of  Danville  are  divided  in  their  sentiments,  but  I 
think  the  majority  of  them  are  in  favor  of  the  union.  While 
we  were  marching  along  the  street,  a  sweet  little  girl  ran  along 
the  side  walk  waving  her  handkerchief,'  exclaiming  "  hurrah  for 
Jeff.  Davis  and  his  men."  I  claim  her  as  my  little  Kentucky 
rebel.  There  is  a  tine  female  college  at  Danville.  A  great  many 
students  were  there  from  a  distance ;  they  collected  on  the  side 
walk  in  front  of  the  college,  and  selected  sweethearts  among 
us;  gave  us  their  names  and  post  ofhees,  and  requestC'i 
write  to  them.  They  claimed  themselves  to  be  Southern  rights 
girls,  and  said  that,  in  their  feelings,  they  were  fully  embarked 
in  the  Southern  cause. 

Leaving  our  camp  three  miles  west  of  Danville  early  in  the 
morning,  we  travelled  all  day  ;  at  night  stopped  ten  miles  from 
Lebanon  ;  here  orders  came  for  us  to  proceed  to  Frankfort,  the 
enemy  having  left  Lebanon  and  gone  to  Louisville.  Several 
young  ladies  from  Lebanon  paid  us  a  visit  that  night,  and  in- 
formed us  that  we  would  be  welcomely  received  by  the  citizens 
of  Lebanon,  who  were  making  great  preparations  to  give  us  a 
good  dinner  the  next  day.  They  also  stated  that  the  Federal 
soldiers  had  been  among  them  along  time,  and  that  they  were 
truly  glad  that  we  had  driven  them  away.  Every  one  began  to 
whet  his  appetite  to  partake  of  the  fine  dinner,  for  we  ate  only 
a  cold  supper  that  had  been  cooked  early  that  morning,  and  the 


32  ENTRANCE  INTO  LEXINGTON. 

following  morning  we  ate  no  breakfast,  as  we  could  not  get  any 
water  to  use.  We  were  then  in  a  limestone  country,  and  most 
of  the  springs  and  branches  had  gone  dry ;  we  suffered  a  great 
deal  for  water  during  our  three  days  march  from  Lexington  to 
that  place.  The  young  ladies  walked  all  through  our  carnp,  and 
took  a  moonlight  view  of  us.  They  walked  all  around  our  gun 
stacks,  to  learn  how  the  stacks  were  formed.  This  is  a  privi- 
lege, they-  said,  that  is  not  allowed  in  the  Federal  camp ;  they 
place  sentinels  over  their  guns  while  in  stacks,  who  will  not  al- 
low any  one  to  go  near,  or  touch  them.  These  Kentucky  dam- 
sels, in  passing  around  among  the  men,  the  most  of  whom  had 
gone  to  bed,  wondered  very  much  at  our  mode  of  passing  the 
nights  in  camp,  viz :  wrapped  up  in  a  blanket,  and  stretched  at 
full  length  on  the  ground.  "  'Tis  a  wonder  that  you  all  don't 
die,"  say  they.  "  Surely  the  soldier  has  a  harder  time  than  any 
one— if  any  body  in  the  world  is  to  be  pitied,  it  is  the  poor  sol- 
dier." They  seemed  to  be  so  deeply  concerned  about  our  wel- 
fare, that  I  could  not  refrain  from  loving  them  a  little,  although 
I  could  not  tell  by  moonlight  whether  they  were  really  hand- 
some or  not. 

At  our  usual  hour  for  starting,  after  the  night  had  passed 
away,  the  regiments  were  formed.  I  now  began  to  think  thus  : 
Only  ten  miles  to  Lebanon — we  will  arrive  there  about  eleven 
o'clock — every  body  will  be  expecting  us — a  nice  dinner,  cook- 
ed in  style,  will  be  on  the  table  waiting  for  us — will  see  a  great 
many  pretty  girls,  and  will  have  a  fine  time  chatting  with  them ; 
upon  the  whole,  it  in  general  will  be  a  grand  jolification.  To 
my  great  surprise  and  disappointment,  when  the  command  "  for- 
ward march"  was  given  we  did  not  take  the  road  to  Lebanon, 
but  moved  off  in  a  different  direction  ;  we  passed  through  Per- 
ryville  that  day,  and  halted  at  the  Big  Spring  near  that  place  to 
rest  and  cook  rations.  The  battle  of  Perryville  was  fought  be- 
tween Generals  Bragg  and  Buell  in  October.  Afterwards,  start- 
ing from  the  Big  Spring  late  in  the  evening,  we  continued  the 
march  (passing  through  a  little  town  called  Nevada)  until  we 
arrived  in  a  few  miles  of  Harrodsburg,  where  we  halted  to 
spend  the  remainder  of  the  night.  Early  the  following  morn- 
ing we  marched  into  Harrodsburg.  Our  entrance  into  this 
place  was  something  similar  to  our  entrance  into  Lexington, 
but  I  don't  deem  it  necessary  to  describe  it  in  detail ;  it  is  sum- 


N'G  OUT  OF  SEKVKE.  * 

cient  to  Bay  that  we  inarched  through  the  streets  und< 
Mound  of  music  and  the  cheers  of  the  citizens.     This  place  is 
what  the  u  Yanks"  would  term  a  secession  hole.     We  were 
treated  very  kindly  ;  a  lot  of  pretty  girls  were  continually  vis- 
g  our  camp. 
.  ernor  Magofl  t  Harrodsburg;  [it  is  noted 

for  being  the  oldest  settled  town  in  Kentucky.  General  Buford 
was  raising  a  brigade  of  cavalry,  and  made  a  speech  in  the 
place  while  we  were  there.  We  left  this  place  on  the  12th  day 
:'  September  ;  passed  through  a  little  town  called  El  Dorado  ; 
I  stopped  to  get  water,  and  a  young  lady  told  me  her  sweet- 
heart was  in  the  Yankee  army,  and  had  been  stationed  at  Frank- 
fort, but  was  then  at  Louisville,  and  she  requested  me  not  to 
kill  him.  My  reply  was,  if  he  should  get  killed,  and  she  would 
:urn  over  to  our  side  and  be  a  good  girl,  that  she  could  get  as 
many  pretty  sweethearts  as  she  wanted  among  the  Confederate 
soldiers.  Travelling  on  we  came  to  Salvisa,  another  nice  little 
town,  where  the  boys  got  plenty  of  whiskey,  and  then  moved 
v  ftriitti  '.o  camp. 


fcPTER  XL 

I  "-<•<,.  |  |  -MMED  GUI 

About  eight  o'clock  in  th».j  morning  my  attention  was  attract- 
ed, by  hearing  the  dram  and  fife  playing  the  tune  of  Yankee 
Doodle.  I  looked  up  towards  the  upper  end  of  the  encamp- 
ment, and  I  beheld  a  Bight  Mich  as  I  never  saw  before  ;  it  was 
this:  a  man  with  the  hair  on  the  right  side  of  his  head,  and 
whiskers  on  the  right  side  of  his  mustache,  and  left  side  of  his 
lace  shaved  olf  as  close  as  it  could  be  done  with  a  razor,  came 
marching  down  the  road  with  bL  hat  in  his  hand,  a  large  crowd 
of  soldiers  were  marching  behind  him.  I  soon  learned  that  it 
was  Waddell's  artillerymen  drumming  one  of  their  men  out  of 
service  for  stealing  a  lady's  gold  watch. 

We  passed  through  Lawrenceburg  that  day  ;  also,  we  went 
through  a  town  called  Rough  and  Heady.     It  is  a  little  village, 

rnpike  ;  one  Bide  of  the  street  were 


VISIT  TO  FSANliFOltT 


in  favor  of  the  "Feds,"  and  the  other  in  favor  of  the  South. — 
We  reached  our  camp,  two  miles  from  Frankfort,  that  evening. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

VISIT  TO  FRANKFORT,  KENTUCKY 

On  the  15  th  September  I  obtained  permission  from  my  com- 
manding officer,  and  went  to  Frankfort  and  spent  the  day.  It 
is  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  is  situated  on  both  sides  of  the 
Kentucky  river.  It  is  almost  surrounded  by  hills  and  moun- 
tains. I  entered  the  State  capitol,  and  gave  it  only  a  slight 
examination ;  it  is  a  building  of  medium  size ;  the  representa- 
tive's hall  and  senate  chamber  are  very  neatly  furnished  rooms ; 
the  portrait  of  Henry  Clay,  in  life  size,  is  suspended  from  the 
wall.  I  then  proceeded  to  the  penitentiary,  the  keeper  of  which 
I  found  to  be  very  much  of  a  gentleman ;  he  took  a-  great  deal 
of  pains  in  carrying  me  around  and  showing  me  the  building 
and  convicts ;  the  wall  is  built  of  stone,  and  is  about  sixteen 
feet  high;  the  convicts  showed  me  various  little  articles  of  their 
own  make,  which  they  were  selling  to  soldiers,  such  as  hora 
finger  rings,  horse  hair  watch  cords,  &c. 

There  was  at  that  time  two  hundred  aiid  fifty  convicts  in 
prison,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  whom  were  in  favor  of  the 
Horth,  the  remaining  hundred  in  favor  of  the  South ;  they  were 
all  dressed  in  striped  clothing,  made  so  the  stripes  run  around 
them  in  a  circle.  I  then  proceeded  to  the  city  cemetery,  which 
is  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  high  hill,  that  has  a  considerable 
bluff  near  the  river.  It  commands  a  plain  view  of  the  city 
below.  Here  are  monuments  of  numerous  officers  who  fell  in 
the  Mexican  war ;  also,  the  monument  of  Daniel  and  Rebecca 
Boone.  I  then  passed  back  to  the  city,  and  purchased  a  few 
articles  of  merchandise,  and  found  them  selling  at  reasonable 
prices  ;  suspenders  were  fifty  cents  a  pair ;  flour  two  and  a  half 
cents  per  pound ;  eggs  ten  cents  per  dozen ;  soda  ten  cents 
per  pound,  &c. 

The  people  of  Frankfort  and  vicinity  are  generally  Lincoln- 
ites,  and  but  very  few  of  them  would  take  Southern  money  ; 


D&1TB  OF  OLD    If  AM   POLK. 

small  boys  in  the  street;?  would  shout  hurrah  for  Lincoln,  and 
sing  abolition  songs.  The  country  surrounding  Frankfort  is 
called  the  blue-grass  country,  in  consequence  ot  which  it  U  well 
adapted  to  the  raising  of. fine  horses  and  cattle. 

Our  boys  visited  a  great  many  houses,  whqpe  inhabitants 
told  them  plainly  that  they  were  against  them,  but  they  would 
generally  give  them  something  to  eat,  saying  at  the  same  time 
that  they  treated  both  sides  well.  Our  boys  had  been  soldier- 
ing long  enough  to  take  little  things  that  they  wanted  as  they 
came  to  them,  especially  in  the  eating  line  ;  it  is  what  our  boys 
term  'pressing  ;  the  Yankees  teem  it  jayhawking ;  but  iu  times 
of  peace  I  would  call  it  stealing.  We  were  in  what  we  con- 
sidered about  half  way  the  enemy's  country,  and  the  viney*'"d-< 
sad  waterm^lor  patches  were  pretty 


CHAPTER  XTO 

DEATH  OK  OLD  HAN    t 

There  was  an  accident  which  happened 
<.d  near  Frankfort,  which  I  regretted  very  much.  An  oil 
t'eman  named  Polk,  who  was  a  very  strong  Southern  rirrht- 
man,  lived  near  our  encampment ;  one  day  he  proposed  for  som  • 
of  us  to  go  a  fishing  with  him,  and  he  would  learn  us  how  to 
catch  fish,  as  he  had  a  good  seine.  Accordingly  Captain  Ballard, 
our  acting  regimental  commissary  at  that  time;  Captain  Wood- 
ruff, who  was  then  our  brigade  ordnance  officer,  Hugh  Gibson 
and  myself,  accompanied  the  old  man  to  the  Kentucky  river ; 
we  fished  around  with  the  seine  until  we  were  all  tired,  without 
success  ;  old  man  Polk  and  Captain  Woodruff"  then  took  the 
seine  and  crossed  the  river  ;  they  were  near  the  east  bank,  when 
Captain  Woodruff  called  to  Gibson  to  come  and  take  hold  of 
the  seine,  as  he  was  up  to  his  neck  in  water,  and  could  not 
swim  ;  accordingly  Gibson  took  hold  of  the  seine,  and  Captain 
Woodruff"  left  them ;  they  then  started  to  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  river,  and  were  soon  in  swimming  water ;  old  maa  Polk 
became  strangled,  and  in  a  few  minutes  began  to  sink.  I  was 
'  two  hundred  vards  below  th^m,  on  the  east  bank  of  tho 


36  -      DEATH  OF  OLD  MAN  POLK. 

river,  and  was  just  in  the  act  of  stepping  into  a  batteau,  while 
Captain  Woodruff  stood  about  fifty  yards  from  me  on  the  same- 
bank  of  the  river,  and  Captain  Ballard  was  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  river  about  opposite  the  old  man  ;  Gibson,  seeing  that  the 
old  man  was  in  the  act  of  drowning,  became  frightened,  drop- 
ped the  seine  and  began  to  swim  to  the  bank;  Capt.  Woodruff 
remarked  to  me  to  look  at  Gibson  poling  for  his  life  ;  at  the 
same  time  Captain  Ballard  said,  in  a  loud  tone,  "  bring  here 
that  batteau — the  old  man  is  drowning  ;"  I  and  Captain  Wood- 
ruff both  tried  to  steer  the  batteau;  neither  of  us  knew  how  to 
carry  the  batteau  up  the  stream,  consequently  the  old  man  wa& 
sooq  drowned. 

The  shrieks  and  cries  from  his  little  boys  who  were  standing 
on  the  bank,  was  enough  to  touch  any  one's  feelings ;  he  was  a 
poor  man,  aftd  had  two  very  nice  daughters,  wThom  several  of 
the  boys  were  trying  to  claim  as  sweethearts,  but  the  sudden 
and  unexpected  death  of  their  father,  caused  them  to  lay  off 
their  gay  dresses  and  put  on  those  of  mourning. 

Leaving  Frankfort  on  the  19th  of  September,  we  reached 
Georgetown  on  the  following  day,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles, 
and  camped  on  the  spot  where  the  Yankees  were  camped  a 
short  time  previous.  While  here  a  large  body  of  troops,  the 
most  of  whom  were  under  command  of  General  Heth,  came 
marching  from  Covington,  which  is  situated  on  the  Kentucky 
side  of  the  Ohio  River,  just  opposite  Cincinnati ;  it  was  at  that 
time  well  fortified,  and  occupied  by  Federal  troops.  General 
Heth  marched  his  men  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  enemy's 
breastworks,  and  finding  them  to  be  very  formidable,  he  aban- 
doned the  idea  of  attacking  them.  A  great  many  of  General 
ITeth's  troops  were  from  Texas  and  Arkansas.  1  saw  several 
regiments  whose  colors  wTere  very  much  soiled  and  torn,  and  in 
large  capital  letters  bore  this  inscription  :  "  Shiloh."  I  judgea 
from  that  that  they  fought  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  They  fought 
also  in  the  battle  of  .Richmond,  Kentucky. 

They  had  been  in  service  a  long  time,  and  being  such  a  great 
distance  from  home  some  of  them  began  to  look  very  ragged 
and  dirty,  and  while  some  of  the  Yankees  were  making  their 
escape,  after  the  battle  of  Richmond,  a  citizen  asked  them, 
"  How  did  the  battle  go  ?"  and  they  replied,  that  "  Those  greasy 
Southern  boys  came  very  ner.r  'eating  us  ntj.?  r 


so:.i»T£R-,    pi  \  hi::.  . 


We  did  not,  softer  any  for  water  at  Georgetown,  a.s  theiv 
spring  at  that  place  which  is  so  large  that  the  stream  that  runs 
from  it-  18  a  creek  of  sufficient  size  to  run  a  m 


ClTAPTEK  XIV. 

We  were  camped  in  an  old  field,  and  about  one  hundred  yards 
from  the  fence.  One  morning  I  saw  five  soldiers  all  marching 
one  behind  an  other  in  single  file ;  each  one  had  a  very  large 
stone  on  his  shoulder.  They  marched  up  to  the  fence,  and  back 
to  the  encampment  again,  and  continued  marching  in  this  btyle 
for  two  hour*.  This  they  had  to  do  every  alternate  two  hours 
for  about  two  days.  It  was  punishment  inflicted  upon  them  by 
their  captain  ;  three  of  them  had  been  stealing,  one  had  got 
drunk,  and  the  other  had  visited  the  country  without  permission. 

September  24.  The  entire  army  set  out  to-day  for  Mount 
Sterling  ;  passing  through  New  Town,  Centerville,  and  camping 
at  Paris,  which  is  a  town  situated  along  the  railroad,  just  eight- 
een miles  from  Georgetown. 

September  21  ;  sed  through  Middletown,  and  arrived  a1 
camp,  two  miles  from  Mount  Sterling,  where  -we  formed  a  junc- 
tion with  General  Humphrey  Marshall,  who  had  just  arrived 
across  the  mountains  from  Western  Virginia.  Our  object  now 
was  to  fight  General  Morgan,  who  was  making  his  way  out  of 
Cumberland  Gap.  General  Morgan  gave  us  the  dodge  how- 
ever, and  went  out  through  the  mountains  by  the  way  of  Tron- 
ton,  and  crossed  over  into  Ohio. 

Out  from  Paris,  about  six  miles  in  Borbourn  County,  Ken- 
tucky, (which  is  noted  for  its  fine  Borbourn  whiskey,)  I  sat 
■down  to  rest  by  the  side  of  a  gate  where  two  citizens  were 
standing  near,  and  a  lady  with  a  bucket  of  milk  was  giving  one 
cup  full  to  each  soldier,  who  were  crowded  very  thick  around 
her.  A  very  tall  soldier  who  had  just  drank  his  cup  full,  whicli 
could  be  plainly  seen  by  looking  at  the  white  appearance  of  his 
long  mustache,  said  to  the  lady  :  "  Fill  my  cup,  as  I  hav'nt  had 
anv  !"     Looking  him  straight  in  the  face,  she  exchrmed  :  "  Oh! 


38  •  BOLDIEftS   PU.NISKJBJD. 

you  are  trying  to  cheat  me,  your  mustache  has  told  on,  you. ' — 
Out  troops  were  then  passing,  regiment  after  regiment,  for  we 
had  at  that  time  a  large  army.  One  of  these  citizens  who  were 
standing  near,  remarked  to  the  other:  "  The  rebellion  is  large, 
but  it  is  b<5und  to  swell  still  larger." 

September  29.  Near  Mount  Sterling.  Started  this  day  on 
the  return  to  Frankfort.  Advanced  as  far  as  Paris  by  night ; 
returned  to  Georgetown  the  30th  of  September. 

October  2.  Twelve  o'clock.  Left  Georgetown  ;  travelled  tl  .■ 
greater  portion  of  the  night,  and  reached  Frankfort  next  morning. 
.  October  4.  Grand  display  in  Frankfort  to-day.  R.  Hawes, 
Military  Governor,  appointed  by  the  Confederate  authorities, 
was  inaugurated ;  General  Reynold's  brigade  escorted  him -to 
the  capitol,  by  forming  a  military  procession  and  accompanying 
Mm  through  the  streets  ;  heavy  salutes  were  also  fired  i>) 
artillery, 

Unfortunately  for  us  Governor  Hawes'  administration  was  '-i 
short  duration,  for  the'  enemy  appeared  in  large  force  on  the 
site  side  of  the  river  late  that  evening,  and  our  Generak 
believing  that  our  force  was  not  sufficient  to  contend  with  tie 
enemy  successfully,  burnt  the  bridges  across  the  river  and  start- 
ed to  form  a  junction  with  General  Bragg,  who  at  that  time  had 
a  considerable  army  in  Kentucky.  As  we  marched  along  that; 
night  we  went  by  General  Raines'  brigade,  who  had  large  iires, 
which  were  built  out  of  rails  that  they  had  taken  off  the  differ- 
'  ent  fences  of  a  farm  near  the  road. 

We  stopped  at  Versailles,  and  stayed  from  two  o'clock  until 
day. 

October  5.  Late  in  the  evening  we  stacked  arms  on  the  hank 
ei  ihe  Kentucky  River,  and  took  supper,  which,  besides  our 
usual  fare,  consisted  of  pumpkins  and  kershaws,  which  our  boys 
took  from  the  adjoining  field.  After  supper  was  over  we  took 
u'p  the  line  of  march,  and  hurried  on  to  Salvisa,  Our  company 
was  rear  guard  for  the  brigade  that  night,  and  the  soldiers  that 
dropped  behind  from  the  different  brigades,  were  so  numerous 
that  every  one  we  saw  we  would  ask :  "  Do  you  belong  to 
Xeadbetier's?"  and  if  answered  in  the  affirmative,  our  command 
wcukI  be  ''forward.'' 


r  Y. 

BAPTER  XV. 

-CRIPTION  OF  KLNTUCKY. 

Sah  ky,  October  0,1862.     Kentucky,  .that 

portion  which  I  have  seen  up  to  the  present  time,  except  the 
mountainous  part  which  I  don't  deem  worthy  of  describing,  is 
a  limestone  country  and  poorly  watered.  It  has  but  very  few 
railroads,  but  eat  many  turnpikes,  the  most  of  which 

are  mecatemized:     The  country  is  generally  level,   and  the  soil 
fertile,  producing  besides  the  products  of  the  adjoining  S* 
hemp  in  greal  It  is  a  tine  country  for  raising  cat- 

tle.    Vineyard*  -y  numerous,   and  bees  are  very  thrifty. 

So  th«;  Kentucky  citizen  is  never  at  a  loss  for  u  wine,  milk,  and 
honey."'     The  .long  these  turnpikes  are  creneraily 

..ntial,  being  built  principally  of  ^-tone. 
country  .hinly  timbered,  and   good  timber  is  a 

roves  are  very  numerous,  how- 
ever, and  our  boys  ate  BO  many  walnuts  that  they  obtained 
name  of  u  Wa  ngers." 

The  dv.  tructed  in  ,  and  are 

neatly  fur:  and  obliging,  and  are 

•  rally  terj  i  -d. 

The  most  common  mode  •.  ag   corn  Ls  cutting  the 

stalks  and   shocking  them  in  tl  where  they* stand   for  a 

short  time,  when  they  are  hauled  out  and  stored  away  in  barns; 
provision  ;  lentil ul  and  cheap  ;  i.acon  was  six  cents 

a  pound  while  Wi  Lexington. 

The  streams  in  Kentucky  differ  from  the  streams  in  Georgia, 
find  the  other  Southern  States,  in  one  particular,  which  is  this : 
the  streams  in  Georgia,  and  the  adjoining  States,  generally 
run  through  the  bottom  and  level  lauds,  while  the  hills  are  at  a 
distance ;  while  in  Kentucky,  and  especially  so  with  the  Ken- 
•  ueky  river,  they  run  next  to  the  hills,  with  the  level  land  at  a 
distance.  Kentucky  is  very  thickly  settle!!,  and  we  sometimes 
marched  a  whole  day  in  a  ]ane,  the  fences  of  which  were  built 
*f  stone. 


40  MOVEMENTS  PEEVIOUS  TO  DEPARTURE  PBOM  liY. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

MOVEMENTS  OP  OUR  ARMY  PREVIOUS  TO  ITS  DEPARTURE  FROM    KENTUCKY 

At  Salvisa,  water  was  so  scarce  and  inconvenient,  that   o'ur 
Quartermaster  hauled  it  from  a  distance. 

October  7.     At  twelve  o'clock  we  started  in  the  direction  of 
Versailles  ;  the  weather  was  pleasant  and  the  moon  shone  bright 
at  night;  we  crossed  the  Kentucky  river,  and  continued  the 
march  until  nme  o'clock,  when  we  stacked  arms,  lay  down,  and 
rested  until  day ;  moved  next  morning  to  within  one  mile  of 
Versailles,  and  stopped  to  cook  provisions  ;  having  but  few 
cooking  utensils,  and  being  limited  as  to  time,  we  were  com- 
pelled to  cook  on  boards  ;  our  water  was  taken  out  of  a  pond 
which  was  muddy,  and  thickly  mingled  with  green  moss,  warm 
and  very  bad  tasted.     We  only  cooked  flour  bread,  having  no 
meat  along  with  us.    The  bread  was  not  very  well  tasted,  as  it 
was  just  flour  kneaded  with  pond  water  and  salt,  without  any 
lard  or  soda.     At  Versailles  we  took  the  Harrodsburg  road,  and 
recrossed  the  Kentucky  river  that  night,  which  we  had  to  wade  ; 
lying  down   and  sleeping  awhile  one  mile  beyond,  we  aroso 
again  and  proceeded  to  within  two  miles  of  Lawrenceburg,  and 
halted  until  day;  as  we  thought  to  attack  the  place  early  that 
morning  the  enemy,  who  were  in  considerable  force,  left  the 
town  before  we  reached  it ;  our  cavalry  captures!  about  on  3 
hundred  stragglers,  who  were  left  behind,  most  of  whom  were 
intoxicated  ;  we  pursued  until  twelve  o'clock  ;  crossed  Salt  river 
and  abandoned  the  pursuit ;  our  cavalry  continued,  however, 
and  during  the  day  they  captured  about  five  hundred  of  the 
enemy,  and  a  number  of  wagons  loaded  with  commissary  stores; 
we  had  been  marching  all  day  without  anything  to  eat,  as  wc 
ate  the  last  of  our  rations  for  breakfast,  and  not  having  quite 
enough  we  finished  that  meal  by  eating  green  pumpkins,  which 
we  roasted  on  the  coais. 

At  Salt  River  we  filed  left,  and  continued  the  march  until 
night,  in  a  road  that  led  into  the  Harrodsburg  turnpike,  near 
which  wo  took  up  lodging,  as  we  thought,  for  the  night  ;  one 
small  piece  of  bacon  and  three  small  sugar  crackers,  of  those 
which  ware  captured  during  the  day,  was  issued  to  each  man  ; 
about  two  o'clock,  which  was  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  Oc- 
tober, we  arose  and  began  our  march  for  Harrodsburg ;  rested 


DEPARTURE  FRO.Af  KENTUCKY.  41 

that  day  several  hours  at  El  Dorado,  during  which  time  the 
boys  ate  all  the  cabbage  that  was  growing  in  a  garden  near  by, 
stripped  an  orchard  of  most  of  its  apples,  ate  up  the  contents 
of  a  potato  patch,  and  as  many  walnuts  as  they  wanted,  which 
tasted  them  to  Harrodsburg,  which  place  we  reached  that  even- 
ing, and  advanced  one  mile  southwest  of  the  town  on  the  Per- 
ryville  turnpike,  and  camped  near  where  General  Bragg's  army, 
was  standing  face  to  face  With  the  enemy ;  here  we  got  full 
rations  of  bacon  apd  flour. 

The  night  was  dark,  drizzly  and  cool;  pi]  the  rails  on  thi 
rounding  fences  were  burnt  that  night,  as  \    3  kept  up  large  fire^ 
until  morning;   we  were  then  in  sight  of  General  Bragg's  army,* 
which   lay  in   line   of  battle,   while  the  enemy,   under   Gen- 
Buell,  was  in  line  of  battle  one  mile  beyond. 

October  11.  The  drum  beat  early,  which  warned  us  to  "fall 
in  :"  the  men  soon  formed  in  two  ranks  behind  the  stacks  of 
guns  *1  QYQry  one  thought  that  in  a  short  time  he  would 

be  out  on  the  line  of  battle,  ready  to  "pitch  into"  his  enemy, 
who  was  but  a  short  <  beyond;  Colonel Watkins, mount- 

ed on  his  nice  little  roane  animal,  which  he  called  "Sallio  Mc- 
Gfundy,"  appeared   in  front   of  his   regiment,  and   after  givil 
the  commands  preparatory  to  starting,  gave  the  command  I 
ward  march;  but  instead  of  marching  towards  the  line  of  bat- 
tle, we  marched   back  through   Harrodsburg,  and  camped    that 
night  a  few  miles  from  "  Camp  Dick  Robinson  ;"  here  we  began 
to  prepare  to  leave  the  State.     It  is  said  that  the  enemy,  whoso 
force  at   that   time  was  very  large,  had   us   almost   surrounded, 
having  us  hemmed  in  in  the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe.     All  tho 
captains  tore  up  their  tent  fliea  to  make  havers 
to  carrv  rations  in. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

•  RPA*rURE  FROM  KKJfl 


On  the  13th  of  October,  late  in  the  evening,  on 
was  put  in  motion,  and  soon  found  itself  at  Camp  Dick  Robin- 
son ;  here  were  hundreds  of  pounds  of  pickled  pork,  which  our 
people  anticipated  destroying  to  prevent  them  from  falling 


42  DEPARTURE  FROM  KENTUCKY. 

the  bands  of  the  enemy ;  consequently  every  soldier  was  t 
ed  to  take  as  much  of  it  as  be  was  willing  to  carry  ;  nearly  e\  ery 
♦me  took  a  piece,  which  he  carried  on  his  bayonet ;  we  travelled 
all  night  without  sleeping  any  ;  j^st  a  short  time  before  day  we 
approached  to  wTithin  a  few  miles  of  the  town  of  Lancaster,  and 
suddenly  I  heard  the  commands:  "halt,"  "front,"  "load  at 
will,"  "load  ;"  here  our  boys  threw  away  the  greater  portion  of 
their  pork,  as  we  would  soon  reach  Lancaster,  where  we  expect- 
ed to  have  an  engagement  with  the  enemy ;  we  passed  through 
Lancaster  about  sunrise;  we  didn't  see  any  Yanks,  but  learned 
.;  large  number  of  them,  under  General  Baell,  had  passed 
through  there  during  the  night ;  the  enemy  went  towards  Crabb 
Orchard,  and  we  went  towards  "  Biir  Hill.?' 

tober  14.  Lay  down  to  rest  about  the  middle  of  the  day, 
and  remained  until  two  o'clock  at  night,  when  we  started  again 
and  landed  at  the  foot  of  Big  Hill  about  twelve  o'clock  m  the 
day. 

October  15."     Rested  until  near  night,  when  Colonel  Watkins 
took   command  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  among  which  wa 
regiment,  to  assist  in  pushing  the  wagons  up  the  hill ;  we  were 
divided  into  three  .reliefs,  and  worked  faithfully  pushing  and 
shoving  the  wagons  all  night. 

October  16.  Rested  at  foot  of  Big  Hill;  at  dark  was  ordered 
(  >  report  on  top  the  bill ,  fell  into  line,  marched  to  the  road,  and 
Stayed  until  two  o'clock,  waiting  for  the  artillery  to  get  up  tie 
kill;  here  we  drew  one  day's  half  rations  of  Sour  and  beef,  anci 
a  little  whisky;  the  moon  rose  just  as  we  reached  the  top  ;  we 
continued  the  march  and  reached  Rock  Castle  river  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  day. 

October  IS.  Started  at  four  o'clock,  travelled  all  day,  and 
about  eight  o'clock  at  night  we  were  marched  into  an  old  fie'.d 
(or  in  other  words  a  brier  patch)  to  camp.  One  cup  of  salt  to 
the  company  and  some  beef  was  then  issued,  but  we  had  no 
bread;  corn  was  just  ripe  enough  to  grate  well,  and  most  of 
the  boys,  knowing  our  situation  in  the  commissary  line,  entered 
some  fields  near  the  road  and  filled  their  haversacks ;  some 
punched  holes  in  the  bottoms  of  their  tin  cups  and  grated  meal 
for  their  supper,  while  others  ate  parched  corn  and  beef. 

Water  was  extremely  scarce.  I  started  in  search  of  some, 
and  came  to  the  rr«n  of  a  branch  which  had  gone  dry.   J  dipped 


DEPART  UEK  JT.OM  KENTUCKY.  4^ 

enough  from  the  horse  track-  that  were  Mink  in  the  inud  to  rill 
my  canteen,  but  there  was  not  enough  left  to  fill  another  can- 
teen. 

October  19.     Our  men  are  beginning  to  suffer  -with  hu: 
having  subsisted  since  the  thirteenth  principally  on   parched 
corn.     Cabbage  patches,  orchards,  and  Ohinese  sugar  cai 
\vn  ho  quarter  by  our  arrijy  to-day. 

KENTUCKY  LAI)  SHAVED  AND  WHIPPET1 
STEALING  A  HORSE. 

During  outmarch  that  clay,  I  saw  :  lad  abo- 

years  of  age  Bitting  by  the  side  of  the  road,  and  a  crowd  of  sol- 
diers standing  bv„  one  of  whom  was  shaving  the  hair  off  one 
side  of  his  head  as  close  as  it  could  be  done  with  shears.  Upon 
interrogating  the  crowd,  I  soon  ascertained  that  the  lad  was  a 
member  of  General  Duford's  Kentucky  cavalry,  and  had  stolen 
:t  horse  from  a  lieutenant  of  Captain  WaddelPfl  artillery. 

Those  who  had  the  young  man  iu  custody,  all  of  whom 
members  of  Waddell's  artillery,  informed  me  that  they 
not  prepared  to  drum  him  out  of  service,  as  there  was  no  mu- 
sicians present,  but,  in  lieu  thereof,  they  intended  to  put  the 
lash  upon  his  back.     Sp  >ut  eight-  -  from 

Cumberland  Ford. 

October  20.  Stacked  arms  at  two  o'clock  this  evening  along 
the  Cumberland  River,  two  miles  from  Elat  Lick,  awl  live  miles 
from  Cumberland  Ford  in  Knox  County,  Kentucky. 

A  mill  stood  in  front  of  our  gun  stacks,  and  in  a  field,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  Wtfl  a  <;uantity  of  threshed  wheat, 
which  was  not  well  fanned. 

Our  Colonel  sent  after  the  wheat,  pressed  the  mill,  and  start- 
ed it  to  grinding.  The  mill  run  all  night,  and  by  morning 
enough  was  ground  .to  give  the  regiment  a  scanty  meal.  I  step- 
ped into  the  mill,  took  a  small  quantity  of  flour  which  had  not 
been  boulted,  the  greater  portion  of  which  was  chaff  and  brand  ; 
I  kneaded  it  up  in  a  tin  cup,  and  baked  it  on  a  small  piece  of 
iron  for  my  supper ;  beef  was  issued  that  night  without  any 
salt. 

October  21.  Moved  one  mile  south  of  Cumberland  Ford, 
and  halted  to  camp  about  ten  o'elock  at  night.  A  small  portioa 
of  bread  was  then  given  to  each  man  ;  no  wood  being  handy 


44  DEPART!  RE  FROM  KENTUCKY. 

we  lay  down,  each  man  having  one  blanket ;  we  could  not  keep 
warm,  as  the  night  was  very  cool. 

October  22.  Travelled  about  sixteen  milts,  passed  Cumber- 
land Gap,  and  camped  five  miles  south  of  it  on  the  bank  of 
Powell's  River.  During  our  march  to-day,  we  saw  between  the 
"ford"  and  the  "gap,"  the  distance  of  which  is  about  twelve 
miles,  twenty-seven  dead  horses  and  mules. 

Although  it  is  getting  late  in  the  fall,  the  roads  are  very  dus- 
ty, and  the  dust  which  was  raised  by  the  cavalry,  while  they 
were  passing  us  to-day,  almost  completely  hid  us  from  6ight. 

At  Cumbeiland  Gap,  I  examined  the  Yankee  camps  which 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  on  the  north  side.  A  great 
many  paroled  convalescents  were  in  them.. 

It  is  said  that  General  Morgan,  previous  to  his  departure 
from  that  place,  had  holes  dug  in  the  shape  of  graves,  and  had 
his  artillery  placed  in  them,  covered  over,  and  pieces  of  plank 
placed  at  each  end,  by  which  means  we  would  suppose  them  to 
be  graves.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  on  the  south  side,  is  a 
mill  built  in  a  few  steps  of  a  spring,  which  is  so  large  that  ita 
branch  keeps  the  mill  running. 

From  the  top  of  the  mountain,  the  country  is  visible  for  many 
miles  around  ;  here  one  can  get  a  glance  at  what  I  term  "beau- 
tiful mountain  scenery."  A  few  paces  from  the  very  summit, 
on  the  south  side,  stands  the  corner  stone  of  three  States,  viz  : 
Kentucky,  Virginia,  and  Tennessee. 

As  I  stepped  over  the  line  into  Tennessee,  and  felt  the  coot, 
soft,  and  pleasant  breeze  of  "  Dixie,"  it  called  to  my  mind  the 
reading  of  that  chapter  in  the  Holy  Bible,  which  tells  about  the 
children  of  Israel  crossing  the  Red  Sea,  after  which  they  ssth 
down  and  sang,  and  played  on  their  musical  instruments,  and  I 
do  believe  at  that  time  music  would  have  been  the  sweetest 
sound  in  the  world  to  me.  Thus  ended  our  campaign  in  Ken- 
tucky. 


M<  KB.  *i> 

'    CHAPTER  XVIII. 

TAIGN   IN   KLKTCCST. 

October  23.     A:  Powell's  River   we  drew  full  rations. 
rted  for  Tazewell,  which  place  we  reached  about  ten  o'clock  ; 

re  we  caught  Up  with  our  wagons  which  had  been  in  advance 
: ■!'  us  during  our  inarch  out  of  Kentucky. 

tober  ?f.  Lett  Tazewell,  travelled  in  the  direction  of 
Knoxville,  waded  Clinch  River,  and  pitched  our  camp  on  a  hill 
I  ve  miles  south  ot'it  :  nox:  day  we  reached  Blaic^  Cross  Ko.. 

Remained  at  Blaine'  Croat  Rc#ds  to-day: 
snowing  very  heavy,  and  we  are  without  tents.    Wc  keep  iarire 

et  out  of  rails  which  we  are  packing  on  our  shoulder-  hall  a 
mile. 

October  28.  I  Jeneral  Leadbetter  started  to  Mobile,  Alabama, 
to  take  charge  of  the  forts  near  that  city,  and  Colonel  Skidrnore 
Harris,  of  the  Forty-Third  Georgia  Regiment,  (who  WM  tr 

red  to  OUf  brigade  at  Meunt  Sterling,  Kentucky,)  being  the 
ranking  Colonel,  took  eorumand  and  conducted  us  to  Lenoir's 
station,  which  is  situated  on  the   East  Trnarmnr  and  Georgia 

lilroad,  just  twenty-one  miles  from  Knoxville,  which  place  we 

.  hed  the  thirtieth  day  of  October  ;  bei  «t  our  :• 

I  cooking  ut'-nsiis  again.     The  following  morning,  one  ofl 

unpany,  the  moat  of  whpm   were  rted 

home  to  Georgia  on  detail  to  gel  winter  clothing  for  tfee  r< 

■  it. 

Whi  ere  at  thii 

Is:  reorg  ...     unman  ded  b) 

Glenn;  Thirty-Fourth  G.  commanded  ^y  Colonel  John- 

;    Thirty-Ninth  Georgia,    commanded  by  Colonel 
nell;  Fifty-Sixth  Georgia,  commanded  by  Colonel  Watkina;  and 
the  Fifty-Seventh  Georgia,   commanded   bj  el   Barkaloo  ; 

;ui.l  under  comma!  u  II.  Taylor. 

We  remained  at  Len<  -.   and  during 

ie  there  was  a  great  d<  kness  ;  from  two  to  tl 

soldiers  were  buried  then  lay  during  our  stay.     An  old 

miller  living  near  our  camp  was  grinding  one  day,  and   I  i 
some  oi  •  s  who  were  standing  in  the  mill,  that  " 

wei  steal 


46  TRIP  FROM  TENNESSEE  TO  MISSISSIPPI. 

from  him.  That  evening  the  boys  came  into  camp  with  the  old 
man's  coat  buttons  and  a  sack  of  meal ;  the  old  man,  no  doubt, 
was  an  old  "  union  skunk,"  and  had  he  held  his  tongue,  he  pro- 
bably would  not  have  lost  his  buttons  and  meal. 

November  17.  Took  the  cars  for  Tullahoma,  Tennessee  ;  got 
as  far  as  Chattanooga  by  night,  took  off  our  baggage,  and  slept 
alongside  the  railroad  ;  next  morning  we  proceeded  to  Bridge- 
port, Alabama,  and  camped  on  the  island  ;  the  bridge  being  only 
completed  across  one  prong  of  the  river,  the  following  day  we 
crossed  west  prong  of  the  river  in  ferry  boat  "  Florence." 

November  20.  Took  the  cars  again  and  proceeded  oa  to 
Tullahoma,  arriving  there  next  evening, 

November  2-i.  Marched  from  Tullahoma  to  Manchester  in 
Coffee  County,  Tennessee,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles,  and  es- 
tablished our  camp  on  Duck  River,  one  and  a  half  m;ies  north 
of  the  town. 

December  7.  Orders  received  to  proceed  immediately  to 
Keadyville,  which  is  twenty-three  miles  distant.  Travelled  a 
very  short  distance  to-day,  as  the  weather  is  very  cold,,  and  the 
ground  is  covered  with  snow  ;  at  night  slept  tolerably  comfort- 
able, considering  that  we  had  to  lay  on  snow  which  we  only 
partially  covered  with  "  broom  sage." 

December  9..  Arrived  and  established  our  camp  two  miles 
east  of  Readyville,  near  the  Murfreesbofo  and  McMinnville 
turnpike,  in  Cannon  County,  Tennessee;  here  we  drilled  regu- 
lar, company  drill  in  the  forenoon  every  day,  and  battalion  and 
brigade  drill  every  alternate  day  in  the  afternoon. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

OUR  TRIP  FROM  TENNESSEE.  TO  MISSISSIPPI 

Orders  came  for  our  division,  which  is  commanded  by  Gen. 
C.  L.  Stephenson,  to  proceed  immediately  to  Jackson,  Missis- 
sippi, and  report  to  Lieutenant  General  J.  C.  Pemberton,  com- 
manding the  department  of  Mississippi  and  East  Louisiana  ; 
accordingly  we  started  on  the  •  20th  day  of  December,  and 
eamped  that  night  two  miles  from  Murfreesborough ;  passed 


rnc  M    .^NKSSEE  TO   HIS*  i~ 

through   Murfreesborough   next  day,  ar.d   camped 
down  the  railroad  in  a  cedar  grovei 

December  24.     At  dawn  of  day  the  regiment  got  aboard*  tha 

cars  near  Murfreesborough,  Tennessee,  and  arrived  in  Chatta- 
nooga at  sunset ;  here  we  spent  our  Christmas,  and  during  th.? 
day  our  boys  worked  a  nice  Christmas  trick  on  one  of  the  citi- 
zens who  had  just  killed  a  large  lot  of  hogs,  and  brought  in  a 
load  of  backbones  to  sell  to  the  soldiers;  the  trick  was 
the  boys  surrounded  the  w3gon  as  though  they  were  going  to 
buy  all  he  had,  and  while  some  were  talking  with  the  old  gen- 
tleman, asking  the  prices  and  occasionally  b  ■  ne  or  two, 
the  others  were  handing  them  out  to  their  comrades  behind, 
who  were  carrying  them  ' 

The  old  man's  backbone*  were  disappearing  &o  rapidly 
the  money  coming  in  so  slow,  he  took  the  hint,  and  laid  whip 
to  his  horses,  not  however  until  the  boys  had  jayhawked  back- 
bones enough  to  last  them  several  day?. 

The  boys  managed  that  trick  so  well,  they  concluded  to  try 
their  hands  again  ;  orders  were  then  very  strict  against  any' one 
selling  whi.sky  to  soldiers ;  a  citizen  informed  one  of  the  boy* 
that  he  had  a  canteen  of  whisky,  and  he  would  let  him  have  it 
for  eight  dollars  ;  his  reply  wa-  aa  I 

and  get  ray  canteen,  and  while  he  was  getting  the  canteeQ  he 
told  three  of  his  comrades  to  watch  him,  and  as  soon  as  they 
saw  him  emptying  the  whisky  from  one  canteen  to  the  other,  to 
rush  up  with  guns  and  take  him  prisoner  ;  just  as  he  got  the 
whisky  into  his  canteen,  they  came  up  and  asked  him  what  h-- 
had  in  the  canteen  ;  he  replied  water ;  M  let  me  a  a  one 

of  them,  at  the  same  time  pulling  out  the  stopper,  and  placing 
(is  nose  to  the  mouth  of  the  canteen :  "  water,  ah !  bring  him 
dowr  to  headquarter-*,  boys ;"  the  citizen  fearing  they  would 
arrest  him  for  selling  the  whisky,  ran  off  minus  the  eight  dol- 
lars, and  probably  thought  he  had  escaped  well  by  getting 
away  without  being  arrested  ;  the  boys  proceeded  to  camps, 
Racked  arms,  and  had  a  fine  time  drinking  and  'laughing  over 
the  trick. 

A  soldier  who  witnessed  these  two  tricks,  seeing 

well  managed,  concluded  to  try  his  luck  ;  an  old  lady  came 
up  with  a  basket  of  pies,  and  while  she  was  telling  the  prices 
this  soldier  slipped  a  pie  oul  basket ;  the  old  lady  having 


48  TKIP  FROM  TENNESSEE  TO  MISSISSIPPI. 

watched  somewhat  closer  than  he  anticipated,  lifted  his  hat  from 
his  head,  remarking,  at  the  same  time,  that  "  a  fair  exchange  is 
no  open  robbery  ;"  the  boys  who  were  crowded  arouud  began 
ro  laup-h ;  the  soldier,  seeing  that  he  was  caught,  laid  the  pie  in 
the  basket,  and  the  old  lady  returned  the  hat. 

Christmas  night.     Lieutenant  Colonel  Slaughter  'pressed  the 
passenger  train  ;  we  all  stepped  aboard,  and  next  morning  found 
ourselves  in  Atlanta,  Georgia  ;  in  a  few  hours  we  stepped  into 
the  cars  again,  which  soon  began  to  roll  on  towards  the  west- 
Orders  were  issued,,  prior  to  our  departure  from  Tennessee,  that 
no  leave  of  absence  or  furlough  would  be  granted  while  en  route 
to  Mississippi.     I  had  now  to  pass  through  Fairburn,  which  is 
just  eight  miles  from  home,  from  which   place  I  had  just  been 
absent  seven  months ;  presently  the  whistle  blew,  and  the  cars 
stopped,  and  sure  enough  there  we  were  at  the  depot  in  Fair- 
burn  ;  the  temptation  to  visit  home  was  great,  but  good  officers 
and  soldiers  never  disobey  orders  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  if 
I  could  not  get  to  see  I  thought  of  the  "  loved  ones  at  home ;" 
in  a  few  minutes  the  whistle  blew  again,  and  I  heard  the  cry  of 
"all   aboard:"  I  leaped   into  the  ear,  and  the  old  steam  engine 
and  the  iron  wheels   soon   began  to  bear  us  still  further  west- 
ward ;  they   "continued  the  wheel"  until  they  rolled  us  into 
West-Point  about  nine  o'clock  at  night, 

Some  of  the  boys  were  missing  from  every  company ;  the 
temptation  to  visit  home  was  too  strong,  and  during  the  day 
they  leaped  off  the  ears,  to  take  what  they  termed  a  "French 
furlough  ;"  the  majority  of  them  returned  to  their  commands, 
however,  in  a  short  time. 

It  was  Christmas  times,  and  during  the  day  some  of  the  boys 
had  taken  a  little  more  than  an  average  supply  of  whisky,  which 
caused  them  to  be  a  little  thirsty ;  the  train  halted  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  they  called  to  a  negro,  who  was  standing  near  the 
car,  to  bring  them  water  quick  ;  the  negro  ran,  and  in  the 
shortest  time  imaginable,  handed  a  bucket  of  water  into  the 
ear ;  one  of  the  boys  began  to  drink  out  of  the  bucket ;  the 
whistle  blew  and  the  train  began  moving  off  slowly ;  the  negro 
ran  along  keeping  up  with  the  train  until  it  began  running  at 
full  speed,  exclaiming,  "  Master  please  gim  me  do  bucket" — 
"  Master  please  gim  me  de  bucket ;  the  last  I  saw  of  the  negro 
lie  was  running  at  full  speecl,  exclaiming,  "Master  please  gim- 


rBIP  FP.OM  TENNESSEE  TO  MISSISSIPPI.  49 

me  de  bucket ;"  and  the  last  the  negro  saw  of  the  bucket,  the 
thirsty  soldier  was  standing  with  it  almost  bottom  side  up,  in 
the   door  of  the  car,  drinking  as  thou.  lidn't  intend  to 

cease  until  he  had  swallowed  its  contents. 

Passing  on  some  distance  farther,  the  car  stopped  again  ;  two 
negroes  came  up  to  the  car  with  a  sack  of  potato  -  i  b  they 
offered  for  sale ;  one  of  the  boys  lifted  the  sack  into  the  car, 
and  began  to  distribute  the  potatoes  among  his  comrades,,  who 
were  crowded  very  thickly  around  him.  One  of  the  negroes 
said,  "  Master  aini  ,yo-  \p  for  the  taters  /"  The 

soldier  pointed  his  gun  towards  the  negro,  and  told  him  if  he 
didn't  *;  skedaddle  he  would  shoot  him."  The  ne^ro  ran  off 
about  ten  paces,  and  said  :  •'  Master,  if  you  won't  pay  me  for 
the  taters,  gim  me  de  sack  \  the  gun   I 

and  the  negroes  leaped  behind  a  tree  ;  an  soldier  h« 

his  gun  and  fired  at  the  top  of  the  tree  ;  I  then  com- 

menced running  ;  here  they  both  went  at  fuli 
woods,  leaping  over  logs,  rocks,  aticka  and  I  The°  boys 

only  aiming  to  have  a  toff 

them  lor  their  pol 
be  in  good  can,*  / 

remained 

encampment  was  situated  on  a  level 

While  the  boys  were  j 

they  discovered   in  the  cook  house  a  large  quai 

potatoes  piled  up  to  the  sill  of  a  back  window ;  two  OJ 

made  an  agreement  to  pay  them  a  visit  that  night ;  accor 

about  ten  o'clock  the  beys  approached  the  window,  and  found 

that  one  of  the  lower  panes  of  g  broken  out— the  moon 

mining  bright.     The  cooks  were  sitting  by  the  fire,   1 
was  but  a  few  paces  from  the  window,  busily  engaged  in  a  con- 
versation.    The  boys  arms  being  rather  too  short  to  rea- 
potatoes,  they  sharpened  the  end  of  a  stick  which  they  thru-t 
into  the  potatoes,  and  by  this  means  they  soon  drew  out  e:. 
to  till  their  sack,  which  held  about  two  bus! 

December  28.     Eleven  o'clock  finds  the  Fifty-Sixth  Gc 
Kegiment  on  board  the  cars,  the  whistle  has  just  blown,  and 
here  we  go  still  westward.     Ten  o'clock  at  night  finds  us  at  the 
boat   landing  in   Montgomery,   Alabama,   getting  aboard    the 
steamer  "  Pw.  B.  Taney." 


50  TRIP  FROM  TENNESSEE  TO  MISSISSIPPI. 

December  20.  Travelled  down  the  A-kibama  River,  landed 
at  Selraa  in  the  evening,  stepped  np  that  high  bluff,  and  lay 
down  'till  morning. 

December  30.  Took  the  train  at  Selttia,  and  at  two  o'clock, 
1*.  M.,  rolled  into  Demopolis;  looking  down  the  street  to  my 
right,  I  saw  it  was  crowded  with  beautiful  ladies,  and  a  short 
distance,  beyond  them  I  saw  a  long  table  under  a  row  of  beau- 
tiful trees  which  stood  along  the  side  walk.  Provisions  cook- 
ed i  in  the  best  style  was  soon  placed  upon  the  table,  and  the 
whole  car  load  of  soldiers,  consisting  of  two  regiments,  were 
invited  to  dinner.  We  marched  up  to  one  side  of  the  table, 
while  the  ladies  stood  on  the  other  side  and  waited  on  us  with 
the  greatest  pleasure  and  politeness. 

While  conversing  with  a  young  lady,  she  informed  me  that 
they  had  been  feeding  soldiers  seven  days,  and  had  provisions 
enough  prepared  to  feed  them  seven  more,  and  if  the  soldiers 
continued  passing  through,  that  they  didn't  intend  to  cease 
feeding  them  as  long  as 'Demopolis  could  furnish  a  pound  of 
meat,  or  a  loaf  of  bread. 

The  ladies  of  Demopolis  have  the  praise  of  being  kind,  beauti- 
ful, and  patriotic.  They  also  have  Hhe  thanks  and  best  wishes 
of  every  soldier  in  Genera)  Stevenson's  division.  I  can  say.that 
Demopolis  is  a  lovely  little  town,  situated  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Tombigby  River,  in  Marengo  County,  Alabama. 

At  sunset  we  started  down  the  Tombigby  River  on  steamer 
vk  Marengo,"  ami.  got  ashore-  at  ^IcDo well's  landing^  four 
from  Demopolis. 

\    LAD  SHAVED,  WHIPPED  AND  DRUMMED  QJJT 
OF  SERVICE,  JANUARY   1st,  !>-. 

McDowell's  landing,  on  the  Tombigby  River,  Sumpter  Comi- 
ty, Alabama,  early  in  the  morning,  January  1,  1863. 

Captain  fowling  lay  down  last  night,  and  placed  his  boots 
near  his  head ;  he  arose  this  morning  and  the  boots  were  missing; 
by  searching  around  in  his  bare  feet,  he  found  them  together 
with  other  articles,  which  were  missing  from  the  regiment,  in  the 
possession  of  a  young  lad  named  Rataree,  who  already  bore  the 
reputation  of  being  a  considerable  rogue. 

The  punishment  inflicted,  was  this :  His  shirt  taken  off,  and 
one  hundred   and   one  stripes  placed  upon  Lis  back;  the  hair 


PFI . 


ead  ;  inarched  through  the  en<  i 
(peril   in  advaii  wd  of  soldi* 

i     91       .  and   of  the   tune   called   the 

March," 'with  1  hand.    This  has  just  been  done,  and 

red  iVoi  >nfederate 


.iAITEK    XX. 

rri. 

At  >  k  in  tii-  Quary,   1863,  the 

Meridian,  ppi.     The 

Fifty -S  i  giment  took  off  it  f 

in  the  streets  until  morning. 

The  country  around  lias  an  unfavorable 

incipall) 
ewhal  in 
January 

\iiicli  ].",.  Istant;  passed  th 

. 

■ 

ens  tM 

[-  pound, 
lare  per  pair,  i  dollars, 

k  River,  thirteen  mil* 
!  lard  the  railroad  bridge  ;  returned  to   \ 
•  bruary. 
Rations  that  are  being  issued  to  us  no  -  follows  ! 

of  the  poorest  quality,  corn  meal  oi  the  .  black 

molasses,  pea-,  and  sugar. 

Every  ten  days  our  regiment  \o  "Warrenton,  a  e 

place  ten  miles  down  the  river,  on  picket  duty,  which  duty  is 
fery  disagreeable — it  is  performed  thus:  We  rise  early  in  the 
eing  very  cool,  start  and  walk  ten  miles 


52  MANOEUVRES  IN  MISSISSIPPI. 

over  a  muddy  road,  and  arrive  at  the  picket  post  about  eleven 
o'clock.  Our  diet  consists  of  cold  beef  and  corn  bread,  cooked 
previous  to  our  leaving  camps  ;  in  two  days  we  return.  We 
remain  on  picket  the  two  days  and  nights,  let  the  weather  be  as 
it  may ;  our  only  bed  is  one  blanket. 

One  night  in  every  week  we  slept  in  the  streets  of  Vicksburg. 
This  duty  we  performed  until  the  third  day  of  April,  when  we 
moved  our  camp  to  the  upper  end  of  the  fortifications,  near 
Chickasaw  bayou. 

When  the  gunboat  "  Indianola"  was  captured,  we  found 
among  its  crew  three  soldiers  who  had  formerly  belonged  to 
our  army,  but  had  deserted  and  went  to  the  Yankees  about 
twolve  months  prior  to  their  capture.  A  court  martial  was  held 
and  they  were  sentenced  to  be  shot.  General  Stevenson's  divi- 
sion was  ordered  to  execute  the  sentence  upon  one  of  them ;  it 
was  a  solemn  duty. 

About  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  division  formed,  and 
marched  about  one  mile  south  of  the  city,  and  formed  three 
sides  of  a  hollow  square. 

At  the  centre  of  the  gap  where  the  fourth  side  would  be, 
were  the  square  complete,  stood  a  stake  which  the  deserter  was 
tied  to;  just  behind  the  stake  were  his  coffin  and  grave. 

At  the  centre  of  the  square,  stood  twelve  men  with  loaded 
guns — six  of  which  were  loaded  with  blank  cartridges ;  the 
commands :  "  Ready,  aim,  fire,"  was  given,  and  the  unfortunate 
man  was  no  more. 

MY  TRIP  UP  THE  YAZOO  RIVER 

On  the  21st  of  March  I  was  detailed  to  take  charge  of  ord- 
nance stores  for  General  Loring's  command,  which  at  that  time 
was  stationed  at  Fort  Pemberton,  which  is  situated  |hree  miles 
at  Greenwood,  Miss.,  on  the  Yazoo ;  I  started  in  the  evening 
and  took  lodging  that  night  ten  miles  from  Vicksburg,  with  a 
wealthy  old  bachelor  seventy-three  years  of  age ;  it  was  dark 
when  I  reached  his  house ;  I  rode  up  to  the  gate,  hitched  my 
horse,  stepped  into  the  piazza,  and  asked  the  old  gentleman  if 
I  could  get  lodging  for  the  night ;  his  reply  was :  "  I  suppose, 
you  can  stay,  but  I  can't  be  responsible  for  your  horse,  as  there 
has  recently  been  a  'good  many  horses  stolen  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  if  you  stay  you  will  stand  a  chance  of  losing  him ;" 


*<EUVEK8  IN  MISSISSIPPI.  03 

:  I  stayed,  however,  and  next  morning 
my  horse  was  all  right;  I  mounted  him,  and  in  a  short  time 
rode  up  to  the  boat  landing  near  Snyder's  Bluff;  had  my  ord- 
nance store-  board  the  steamer  "  Magnolia,"  which  was 
very  much  crowded  with  soldiers;  I  then  sent  my  horse  back 
to  Vicksburg;  after  seeing  my  ordnance  stores  carefully  placed 
ay  on  deck,  r.  ard  placed  over  them,  I  went  up  into 
the  cabin  to  get  supper,  having  had  no  dinner;  I  learned  upon 
bin  that  there  was  no  person  aboard  except  sol- 
w,  who,  |               to  the  boat's  starting  drew  rations 
them  to  Yn.               .  and  of  course  they  would  not  dispose  of 
any  of  them  ;  my  next  object  was  to  get  a  lodging  place  ;  I  took 
the  berths  as  I  came  to  them,  beginning  at"  number  one,  and 
mined  aU  on  that  aide  ,  and  found  Lhem  occupied  by 
soldiers;  I  started  up  the  opposite  side,  and  presently  I  came 
to  one  that  was  unoccupied  ;  I  soon  discovered  that  all  the  fur- 
niture had  been  taken  out  of  the  room  ;  I  lay  down  across  the 
pieces  which  were  placed  there  to  support  the  bed,  and  was 
•:  asleep,  and  when  I  a  n    I         the  mornin-  I  was  oomph-  i 
t  was  raining  very  rapidly,  and  thi  ring 
down  upon  me  from  a  ho U              -op  of  the  boat.     About  four 
0'c]cK'k  '                                       -oiia  stopped  to  take  in  wood;  I 
fan  to  feel  very  hungry,  it  being  then  about  thirty-tv,  i 

I  to  a  house  which  wi 
.  er,  and  asked  the  lady  if  I  could 
I  dinner  was  over,  but  she  could  g 
read  ;  accordingly  she  ,0me  corn  bread 

and  returned  to  the  Magnolia,  whose  bell 
rang  to  start  just  as  I  leaped  aboard;  in  a  short  time  th     M 
nolia  tied  up  at  the  wharf  in  X  by;  I  then  pi**  - 

the  hotel  and  stayed  all  night ;  next  morning  I  returned 
wharf,  shifted  my  ordnance  stores  to  the  steamer  "  Hope"  and 
tinned  up  the  river;  I  found  that  the  Hope  had  more  sol- 
diers aboard  than  t<  „lia,  consequently  I,  with  several 
others,  spent  the  night  without  sleeping  any  ;  in  the  morning  1 
ed  at  Fo               erton  ;  <;•  ordnance  stem  - 

•  the  boat  -landing,  cast  my  eyes  down  the  river,  and 
saw  the  :>g  «  fall  speed  on  the  return  to  Yazoo  City ; 

there  I  was,  left  amid  an  army  of  strange  soldiers,  with  no  place 
t0  glee^  w  rred  of  tbem  if 


64:  MANOEUVRES   IX  MISSISSIPPI. 

there  was  any  dwelling  near ;  they  said  there  was  none ;  the 
country  was  overflowed  by  the  back  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
river  on  one  side  of  the  fort,  and  the  enemy  was  encamped  on 
the  other. 

I  then  reported  my  condition  to  Colonel  T.  X.  Waul,  who 
wa3  commanding  the  fort  and  garrison  ;  hv  informed  me  that, 
in  all  probability,  it  would  be  several  weeks  before  a  boat  would 
be  up  at  the  fort  again,  and  that  I  had  best  cross  the  river,  and 
go  down  to  General  Tilghman's  headquarters,  about  two  miles 
down  the  river,  and  there  I  would  probably  find  a  boat,  it  being 
a  regular  boat  landing ;  accordingly  I  started  across  the  river 
iu  a  flat  bottomed  boat,  which  was  oared  by  about  half  a  dozen 
Creoles,  not  one  of  whom  I  could  understand. 

We  had  not  quite  reached  the  main  current  of  the  stream, 
when  I  heard  something  strike  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  it 
stopped  suddenly  ;  the  boat  was  just  about  balanced  on  a  stump, 
which  was  under  it,  near  the  centre ;  it  was  then  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  evening ;  there  I  and  those  Creoles  pushed,  pulled 
and  tugged  until  the  sun  was  just  hiding  himself  behind  the 
western  horizon,  when  we  all  gave  a  simultaneous  pull  with  the 
oars,  which  carried  the  boat  from  over  the  stump. 

As  I  stepped  out  of  the  boat  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  I  began 
running,  and  did  not  take  a  step  slower  than  the  double-quick 
until  I  reached  General  Tilghman's  headquarters ;  I  tried  to  get 
lodging  on  the  steamer  "John  Walsh,"  which  was  tied  up  at 
the  landing,  and  found  it  to  be  in  the  same  condition  of  the 
Magnolia. 

I  then  started  to  the  batteau  landing,  some  three  hundred 
yards  below,  to  cross  over  to  a  dwelling  which  stood  near  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river;  I  had  just  reached  the  plage  where 
the  batteau  lay,  when  I  saw  two  men  coming  at  full  speed  on 
horseback,  from  General  Tilghman's  headquarters;  they  told 
me  to  "  about  face  ;"  that  I  had  to  go  before  General  Tilghman  ; 
very  well,  was  my  reply,  and  I  immediately  turned  and  went 
with  them ;  a  guard  met  us  before  we  got  there,  acid  I  marched 
np  before  General  Tilghman  under  the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  ( 
took  from  my  pocket  the  receipts  for  my  ordnance  stores,  also 
the  order  detailing  me  to  accompany  them  to  Fort  Pembertou, 
and  handed  them  to  the  General,  who  perused  and  handed  them 
back  to  me,  remarking  at  the  same  time,  "  all  right,  Lieutenant; 


TEH?  TO  I>EK.. 

you  being  a  Strang  A  in  cit.  .ng  a 

place  to  lodge,  I  thought  it  best  to  ascertain  wh 

how  you  came  here;''  be  then  stepped  ii  '  &nd  wrote 

to  the  i^ly  who  resided  in  the  house  mi  the  oppo; 

river,  which  note  read 

"Mrs.  Leslie  will  com- 

modate Lieuteuair  A.,  for  the  ni 

ranger  here  and  ha->   no  place  to  sta; 
March  25, 

The  lady  had  a  great  deal  of  ,  but  being  a  particular 

friend  of  General  Tilghman's  ah<  ted  for  me  to  stay;  next 

morning  I  bough4,  provisions  enough  to  las-  Vicksburg, 

and  hired  a  negro  to  cook  them  ;  tha  ird  the 

John  "Walsh,  which  soon  started  for  Yaaoo  city;  I  spent  the 
night  without  sleeping,  as  all  tl  i  been  taken  off  the 

boat ;  reached  Yazoo  < 

Hartford  City"  and  s'  v  on  a  pile  of  ■ 

day  I  reached  Vicksburg. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

R    TRIP     ' 

April  6.     Left  Vicfcsb 

night,  and  at  break  of  day  reached  the  boat  land 

der's  Bluff,  and  immediately  started  up  the  rhrer  on  t; 

Peyton;  we  travelled  up  tl  until  we  1  louth' 

e  Sun  Flower  river,  which  W<j  travelled  up  until  v. 
Lake  George,  from  which  place  the  Hope  took  uj  up  to  Rolling 
Fork,  where  we  had  to   travel   two   miles   in  flat-bottom  boat* 
oared  by  negroes  ;  we  got  on  board  thee  ',  and 

reached  the  landing,  two  miles  distant,  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
night ;  my  patience  was  worn  out,  for  we  were  M-van  hour* 
going  two  miles ;  we  advanced  up  the  stream  inch  by  iuch  ;  as 
we  stepped  out  of  the  boat  one  of  the  boys  remarked  that  he 
"thought  a  snail  could  have  crawled  that  distance  while  we  wer« 
travelling  it ;"  we  cooked  rations  immediately,  and  began  march- 
ing up  Deer  Creek;  we  marched  thirteen  miles  up  the  creek, 
and  back  five  by  night. 


56  TEIP  TO  DEER  CREEK. 

April  10.  Marched  back  and  established  our.  camp  at  the- 
fork  of  Deer  Creek.  In  Washington,  the  adjoining  county,  the 
enemy  had  a  large  force,  who  were  plundering  and  destroying 
a  great  deal  of  property  ;  a  great  many  negroes  were  taken  off 
the  farms,  and  a  great  many  dwellings  were  burnt;  in  facta 
great  many  wealthy,  citizens  were  almost  reduced  to  extreme 
poverty;  numbers  of  refugees  passed  by  our  camps  every  day. 
Here  I  became  convinced  that  the  u  Yankees  had  no  regard  for 
honor,  nor  respect  for  human  feelings." 

Deer  Creek,  Issequena  county,  Mississippi,  April  23,  "1863* 
Hung  a  negro  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  for  bearing  dispatches  for 
the  Yankees,  which  he  had  concealed  in  a  plug  of  tobacco ;  he 
hung  until  night,  when  he  was  taken  down  and  dissected  by  our 
army  surgeon.  Our  regiment  remained  on  Deer  Creek  eighteen 
days,  during  which  time  our. principal  employment  was  fishing;. 
I  scarcely  ate  a  meal  while  we  were  there,  without  having  fish. 

April  28.  Received  orders  to  return  to  Vicksburg,  and  got. 
aboard  the  boat  in  the  evening. 

May  1.  Landed  at  Snyder's  Bluff,  travelled  nearly  all  night,, 
and  reached  Vicksburg  a  short  time  before  day. 

Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  May  3.  Ordered  to  proceed  immedi- 
ately to  Grand  Gulf,  as  reinforcements  for  our  army  who  are  in 
close  contact  with  the  enemy.  Received  news  to-day  of  the 
loss  of  General  Tracy  and  a  considerable  number  of  men,  and 
that  our  forces  are  falling  back  this  side  of  Big  Black  River. — 
Late  in  the  evening,  fifteen  miles  from  Vicksburg,  received  or- 
ders to  move  in  the  direction  of  Big  Black  bridge. 

May  4.  Stacked  arms  at  the  fork  of  a  road,  where  the  sign 
board  are  marked  thus  :  "  To  Vicksburg,  ten  miles ;  to  Hall's- 
'  Ferry,  ten  miles  ;  to  Warrenton,  nine  miles."  Here  we  awaited 
for  further  orders.  We  passed  by  the  residence  of  Dr.  Xailor 
to-day,  whom  we  all  admit  fr>  be  the  most  patriotic  citizen  that 
we  have  met  with  in  Mississippi ;  he  had  barrels  of  cool  cistern 
water,  which  is  a  valuable  "  item"  in  Mississippi,  and  which  his- 
servants  had  just  drawn  from  the  cisterns.  Sitting  at  the  road 
side,  he  and  bis  whole  family  were  busily  engaged  in  giving 
each  soldier  a  drink  and  tilling  his  canteen.  His  table,  free  of 
charge,  was  setting  for  one  and  all.  Dw  Xailor  said  he  had 
been  feeding  soldiegs  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and 
never  had  exacted  one  cent,  in  return. 


BKK.  o7 

\  12.  Genera]  A.  Camming,  of  Georgia,  took  command 
ot  our  brigade  to-day  ;  began  marching  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
night,  and  continued  until  tl  -:k  •  the  following  evening 

we  crossed  Big  Blf  ...    ■  J  two  miles  southeast 

of  Edward's  station. 

May  15.     It  rah.'  yesterday,  and  the  ground 

being  wet  I  slept  •  d  of  raii 

M.,  started  to  the  I  y  down  to  sleep  about  mid- 

•  near  the  enemy. 
The  following  Pemberton\s  address  to  his  soldiers, 

b  was  printed  and  distributed  among  them  a  few  day- 
viov  Creek  : 

HEADQUARTI  i 

51FP1  and  East  Louisiana,  ,- 
Vicksburg,  May  12t;  ) 

Soldiers  of  the  Army,  in  and  around  Vicksburg: 

The  hour  of  trir..  iAe  !     The  enemy  who  ha*  so  long 

threatened  V:  n  front,  ba%  at  last,  effected  a  landing  in 

this  department ;  and  his  march  into  the  interior  of  Mississippi 
een  marked  by  the  devastation  of  one  of  the  fairest  por- 
tions of  the  State  !     He  ^««ks  to  breuk  the  communication^  be- 
the  member*  and  to  control  the  navi- 

gation of*th<'  Mississippi  River  !    The  issue  involves  everything 
.rnder.  The  enemy  fights  for  the  pri\ 

You  fight  for  your  country,  homes, 
!     Your  com- 
manding General,  g  in  the  truth  and  saeu-dness  of  this 
-   lot  with  you,  and  stands  ready  to  peril  his 

it!     God, 
rules  in  the  affairs  of  men  and  nations,  lo\  •    and 

aisesoj  tram- 

in  the  dust.     In  the  day  of  conflict  let  each  man,  appealing 
to  Him  foi  home  for  victory,  and  our  triumph 

ritry  will  hai'  liver- 

id  cherish  th<  may  fall  as  martyr- 

in  her  defer. 

— and  the 
efforts  with  i 

C.  PEMBERTOX, 

>mmand 


58  BATTLE  OF  BAKERS  CREEK. 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

BATTLE  OK  BAKER'S  CREEK,  MISSISSIPPI. 

May  16.  A  terrible  battle  was  fought  to-day.  General  Pem- 
berton  moved  to  within  a  short  distance  df  the  enemy,  and 
arranged  his  troops  in  line  of  battle;  an  engagement  commenc- 
ed, and  continued  until  late  in  the  evening. 

The  Fifty-Sixth  Georgia  Regiment  was  in  the  thickest  of  the 
engagement,  and  its  killed,  wounded  and  missing  are  considera- 
ble. Among  the  wounded  is  Colonel  E.  P.  Watkins,  who  acted 
gallantly  and  nobly  during  the  engagement.  Colonel  Watkins 
had  been  in  ill  health  six  months  previous  to  the  battle,  and 
was  under  medical  treatment  at  Vicksburg.  When  he  beard 
that  his  regiment  was  marching  to  the  battle-field  he  immedi- 
ately started  for  the  scene  ©f  action,  and  although  ho  was 
scarcely  able  to  sit  upon  his  horse  he  hurried  on,  and  his  tall 
and  slender  form  appeared  before  his  regiment,  just  as  it  was 
taking  its  position  in  front  of  the  enemy.  I  am  proud  to  say, 
however,  that  Colonel  Watkins'  wound  is  only  slight. 

I  regret  very  much  to  have  to  record  the  death  of  General 
Lloyd  Tilghman,  who  fell  during  the  day  ;  he  died  the  patriot's 
death,  "  amid  the  roar  of  cannon  and  din  of  battle." 

The  enemy  being  superior  to  us  in  numbers,  we,  after  fight- 
ing them  all  day,  sustaining  heavy  loss,  retired  in  the  evening, 
and  turned  up  our  heads  next  morning  inside  the  fortifications 
at  Big  Black  bridge. 

May  IT.  General  Pemberton  left  a  brigade  at  Big  Black 
bridge,  and  with  the  remainder  of  his  army  proceeded  to  the 
fortifications  at  Vicksburg. 

The  enemy  attacked  Big  Black  bridge,  and  after  a  tenible 
battle  the  bridge,  together  with  the  majority  of  the  brigade, 
fell  into  his  hands,  not,  however,  until  the  bridge  was  all  in 
Hames,  which  was  soon  reduced  to  ashes. 


[AFTER    X\ 

'  r-SEYBK    DAYS   IV  Till 

Upon  record 

it  equal   to  compare  with  any  placed  upon  ai 
cm  records,    I  deem  it  I   r  to  giv 

more  complete  the  even'  -  as  they  * 

pired,  to  give  a  com  pi 
• 

The  city  of  [ 
"Hill  City,"  ii  i  on  a  number  of  small  hills,  which  ex- 

Had  along  the  eastern  bank   of  th  -ippi   River.     This 

same  range  of  hilla  .  and 

•y;  in  consequence  of  wl  little 

Villages,  ravin-  gullies  int  mile  from 

Itjr  a  chain  of  these  hills   '  .'  the  riw  .   and 

about  the  i*amc  distance  from  the  c.ty,   until  they 
reach  the  river  above,  forming  a  heini- 

nearly  in  the  shape  of  a  half  moon.     This  half  circle  is  of  such 
uniform  regularity,  that  it  seenr*  a-  though  it  was  form- 
rreat  crisis  of 

The  fortifications  extended  around  on  tic  Bummits  of  this 
cuam  of  hills,   and  inside  of  this  small  I     nera! 

Pemberton's  command,  which  «  1   could  as- 

certain,  of  abojit  thirty  thousand  nun.  The  entrenchments  were 
about  three  feet  in  width,  and  about  four  feet  in  depth  ;  and  at 
the  centre  of  each  regiment,  which  wore  st  wd  in 

them,  was  situated  n  nattery.  vents, 

filled  with  sand,  and  laid  on  t<>j>  the  outer  bank  of  the  ditches. 
At  the  distance  of  thirty  paces  in  front  ntrenchni 

3  of  timber  four  feet  long,  the  ends  of  which  u 
cned,  were  driven  into  the  earth,  inclining  out  ward-  at  an 
of  about  forty-five  degrees.     At  some  places  brush  wi 
;instead  of  timber,   the  limbs  of  which  were  trimmed   to   - 
.point?,  and  extended   in  the  direction  of  the  enemy.     Just  in 
front  of  this  timber  and  brush  a  wire  was  fixed  about  thn 
from  the  ground  ;  all  of  which  were  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
charging  our  breastworks.     In  the  rear  of  our  fortifications, 
ditches  were  dug  from   the  entrenchments  on  the  tops  of  th« 


60  SIEGE    OP  YICKSBURG. 

hills  to  some  distance  down  them,  in  order  that  the  men  might 
pass  into  them,  and  out  again,  without  being  exposed  to  the 
fire  of  the  enemy. 

In  front  of  the  city,  which  is  immediately  west,  the  Missis- 
sippi river,  which  is  one  mile  wide,  runs  immediately  east,  and 
about  two  miles  from  the  city,  (which  is  in  plain  view)  the  river 
turns,  running  north  something  over  a  mile,  when  it  turns  again 
east,  circling  until  it  runs  due  south,  forming  in  front  of  the 
city  a  peninsula  something  over  a  mile  in  length,  and  about  one 
mile  in  breadth,  and  on  this  peninsula  the  Yankees  planted  about 
half  a  dozen  large  mortar  guns,  from  which  they  commenced 
shelling  the  city  at  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  and  cortinued 
day  and  night  until  the  siege  was  over,  killing  at  times  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers,  also,  women  and  children ;  our  large  siege 
batteries  commanded  the  river  from  the  First  bend  above  the 
city,  to  where  our  fortifications  joined  it  below. 

I  have  often  heard  of  the  days  that  u  tried  men's  souls,"  but 
in  the  besieging  of  the  city  of  Vicksburg,  both  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  its  defenders  were  beyond  the  "  shadow  of  a  doubt" 
thoroughly  tried,  which  can  be  learned  by  perusing  the  follow- 
ing facts,  as  penned  by  one  of  the  surviving  defenders : 

We  took  our  positions  in  the  entrenchments  on  the  18th  day 
of  May,  and  were  relieved  on  the  fourth  day  of  July  by  a  ca- 
pitulation of  our  commanding  General. 

The  sufferings  which  the  Southern  troops  endured  during 
their  forty-seven  days  confinement  to  the  ditches,  day  and  night, 
in  the  hot  parching  sun,  in.  the  hard  pelting  rain,  can  better  be 
imagined  than  described.  „ 

During  this  time  of  trial,  rations  were  issued  to  us  as  follows  : 
the  first  week  half  rations  of  beef  and  corn  bread;  the  second 
week  half  a  loaf  of  pea  bread,  a  piece  of  beef  the  size  of  a  hen 
egg,  and  a  small  quantity  of  sugar  each  day,  (the  pea  bread  was 
made  of  the  common  pea  ground  and  mixed  with  half  its  quan- 
tity of  corn  meal ;)  the  commissary  then  issued  flour  enough 
for  two  biscuits  to  each  man  a  day,  a  small  quantity  of  bacon, 
pens  and  rice ;  the  next  issue  each  man  only  had  enough  flour 
to  make  one  small  biscuit  a  day  and  quarter  rations  of  peas, 
rice  and  sugar;  the  rations  continued  at  this  until  the  third  of 
July,  when  male  meat  was  issued  to  us,  some  of  which  was 
eaten  by  the  soldiers;  peas  sold  at  one  dollar  per  quart;  biscuits. 


SISG1  O?  TCGKSBUBQ.  q\ 

one  dollar  each;  and  pea  meal  seventy-five  dollars  per  bushel 
dnring  the  siege. 

I  visited  the  infirmary,  and  there  I  saw  a  scene  of  suffering 
which  can  scarcely  be  described ;  around  me  lay  the  sick,  the 
wounded,  the  dying;  the  wounded  were  in  great  numbers; 
some  with  arms  torn  off,  some  with  eyes  out,  and  some  « 
legs  broken  ;  my  sympathies  were  touched,  but  mere  sympathiz- 
ing with  the  suffering  soldiers  added  nothing  to  their  comfort. 
The  number  of  horses  and  mules  belonging  to  our  army 
considerable,  and  many  of  them  were  killed  every  day. 

AH  the  citizens  had  hiding  places  dug  in  the  hills  to  protect 
their  families  from  the  shot  and  shell  which  fell  almost  as  thick 
as  hail   during  the  siege;  signs  of  th  will   be  seen  for 

hundreds  of  years  to  come. 

During  the  whole  siege  we  sUyod   in  the  batches 
following  orders  :  No  one  allowed  to  take  ofi*  his  cartridge-box, 
shoes  or  any  article  of  clothing,  day  nor  night : 
men  to  be  on  guard  all  the  time. 
The  enemy  made  a  great  man; 
time,  after  sustaining  heavy  loss,  were  driven  back  in  confusion; 
one  charge  was  made  and  there  waa  scarcely  a  man  on  the  i 
my\s  ride  who  survived  the  charge;  nearly  the  entire  regiment 
making  the  charge  was  killed  within  thirty  paces  of  our  bre 
works.     The  enemy  approached  so  near  our  fortifications   at 
some   points,  that   each   part]  with   hand   grenades;  at 

one  place   the  enemy  mined   DM  .cm 

up  with  powder;  our  men,  being  aware  of  whl 
take  place,  erected  new  breastworks  and  do 
rear  of  the  original  one-,  and  fell  back  to  I  ene- 

my had  the  tunnel  completed  ;  when  the  explosion  took  place, 
the  enemy  made  a  charge,  thinking  that  they  would  bayc 
what  few  of  our  men  were  not  killed  by  being  blown  up,  and 
then  march  inside  the  fortifications;  but  a  volley  from  our  n 
in  the  new  ditches,  killing  about  half  of  them,  warned  I 
vivors  of  the  trick,  and  they  lied  in  wild  confusion. 

One  day  a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  out,  the  bearer  of  which 
informed  the  Yankees  that  permission  was  granted  for  them  to 
bury  their  dead;  all  firing  immediately  ceased,  and  our  m 
rose  up  out  of  their  entrenchments  and  stood  upon  the  bank, 
while  the  blue-looking  Yankee  army  stood  on  top  the  embank- 


(52  SIEGE  OF  V'K  K9BURG. 

ment  of  their  fortifications,  some  two  hundred  yards  distant ; 
numbers  from  each  party  met  on  the  half  way  ground  and  con- 
verse*d  with  each  other. 

The  dead  were  buried  in  this  manner :  shallow  holes  dug,  the 
bodies  thrown  in,  and  the  dirt  thrown  on  top  of  them.  After 
iio-htino-  desperately  during  the  day,  our  men  and  the  Yankees 
would  talk  to  one  another  during  the  night. 

The  pickets  were  sent  out  at  dark,  and  remained  on  post  du- 
ring tile  whole  night;  terrible  picket  fighting  was  continually 
<*-oing  on.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  tell  the  number  that  were 
killed  and  wounded  during  the  siege ;  a  great  many  were  killed 
and  wounded  each,  day  inside  of  our  lines,  but  the  enemy's  loss 
must  have  been  a  great  deal  heavier  than  ours. 

We  lost  but  one  General  during  the  siege,  and  that  was  the 
brave  General  Greene  of  Missouri,  who  was  killed  at  his  post 
while  faithfully  discharging  his  duty. 

The  gunboats  and  our  land  batteries  fought  an  artillery  duel 
nearly  every  day,  which  would  sometimes  result  in  sinking  a 
boat  or  two. 

After  remaining  in  the  ditches  two  or  three  weeks,  we  began 
to  look  for  relief  from  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  ;  dispatches 
were  afloat  every  day  that  couriers  had  run  the  blockade,  and 
brought  dispatches  from  General  Johnston,  who  was  said  to  be 
close  in  the  rear,  with  a  large  army;  some  would  imagine  and 
assert  that  they  heard  his  cannon  roaring  in  the  distance;  at 
night}  as  I  lay  down  in  my  ditch,  I  thought  wonders  might  be 
wrought  in  twenty-four  hours;  I  knew  not  in  such  eventful 
•  iines  what  "a  day  might  brine--  forth/'  for  we  lived  on  the  hope 
of  the  morrow. 

A  Hag  of  truce  was  Bont  out  on  the  third  of  July,  and  the 
Mirrender  was  made  on  the  fourth.  The  following  are  the  terms 
«if  capitulation :  "All  officers  allowed  to  carry  out  their  side 
arms;  held  and  staff  officers  allowed  to  carry  out  their  horses  ; 
all  servants  aMowed  to  go  with  their  masters  if  they  choose  to 

do  SO, 


\IE. 

y\:  wiv. 

■ 

On 

•  d  in  the  battle  of  Ba- 
..inent  hi 
to  his  iih  n  :«  -  ort  and  •  loquent  addre*6j  telling  them 
although  we  meet  with  re>  ought 

:id  for  us 
tnd  firm  by  the  banner  of  our  would  be 

finally    successful.     Kwry    Boldier  in  the  F 

■Ion  el  Watkii 
I 
A  Y;.;  Lier  riding  through  th<  in  a  buggy  with  a 

woman   sitting 

■ 

;  ; '  I 

* 

in 

i 

• 

to  Iris  feet,   i 
learned  thai  aent. 

•  ran  over  two  soldiers,  break, 
ill,  and  ..     •         .    -   so  terril 
died   in  a  few  moments.      The  night  following  we  camped 
the  town  of  Raymond ;  six  miles  from  Raymond  we 

place  called  k'-  Cooper's  Well," 
sort  for  the  gay  and  fashionable.     Late  in  the  evening 
ed  Pearl    ;.   .  :,n,  and  halted  to 

eamp. 


64  TRir  yn^ii  vicKssr sa  homk. 

E.  Johnston,  who  wa3  in  Jackson  with  an  army  of  about  thirty 
thousand  men,  and  the  roaring  of  the  cannon  reminded  us  of 
those  that  had  been  so  lately  sounding  around  the  hills  of  Vicks- 
burg. Leaving  our  camp  near  Pearl  Iiiver  on  the  morning  of 
the  15th  of  July,  we  soon  arrived  at  the  forks  of  the  Brandon 
and  Enterprise  roads,  eight  miles  from  the  former  place,  where 
we  received  orders  to  turn  our  course  and  march  to  Enterprise, 
a  distance  of  eighty  miles  farther,  as  General  Johnston  was 
preparing  to  evacuate  Jackson,  and  would  be  compelled  to  have 
the  use  of  the  railroad  to  transport  his  own  troops  to  Morton, 
at  which  place  he  stopped  his  army  and  established  headquar- 
ters. 

Our  rations  were  then  about  consumed,  and  we  subsisted  un- 
til we  reached  Enterprise  principally  upon  green  com.  A  great 
many  of  the  soldiers  were  very  feeble,  from  the  scanty  rations 
received  while  in  the  ditches,  and  upon  learning  that  they  had 
to  travel  eighty  miles  farther,  without  drawing  one  pound  of 
subsistence  from  the  government,  they  became  discouraged,  and 
numbers  of  them  took  horses  and  mules  and  rode  them  to  En- 
terprise, without  asking  permission  of  their  owners,  or  paying 
them  one  cent  ior  the  use  of  them.  Chills  and  fever  was  a  com- 
mon complaint  among  the  soldiers  of  the  Vicksburg  garrison, 
and  those  who  had  them  began  to  fall  in  the  rear  of  the  com 
mand,  among  that  number  was  myself. 

The  country  through  which  we  were  then  travelling  is  poor, 
level,  and  principally  covered  with  pine  timber,  and  very  thinly 
settled ;  provisions  of  all  grades  were  at  that  time  extremely 
scarce,  and  the  sick  soldiers  suffered  for  the  want  of  suitable 
•subsistence.  I  could  hear  of  them  dying  every  day  during  the 
march.  The  brave  and  skillful  General  James  Bowen,  of  Mis- 
souri, expired  at  Clinton,  Mississippi,  in  July,  18G3.  He  acted 
bravely  at  the  battle  of  Grand  Gulf,  and  conducted  himself  no- 
bly during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg ;  he  behaved  so'  gallantly 
that  he  won  the  admiration  and  esteem  of  those  who  knew  him. 

My  chills  and  fever  grew  worse  each  day,  and  upon  reaching 
a  small  town  called  Cato,  I  stopped,  being  unable  to  travel ;  at 
this  little  village,  the  houses  of  which  were  at  that  time  mostly 
evacuated  by  the  inhabitants,  our  General  established  a  hospi- 
tal, and  most  of  the  vacant  houses  were  soon  occupied  by  sick 
soldiers. 


TRIP  FROM  VI<  KSBUBG   HOME.  65 

The  physicians  left  in  charge  of  the  hospital,  spared  no  effort 
in  trying  to  get  supplies  for  us,  and  failed  in  every  attempt ;  our 
troops,  consumed  the  provision  of  the  country  from  Pearl  river 
to  Knterpn  leneral  Pemberton'fl  term,  they  marked 

the  country  with   devastation,  and   those  travelling  in  the  rear 
could  8-  obtain  food  enough  to  sustain  HI 

After  remaining  at  Cato  two  (lays,  I  beg  in  feeling  Booaawbat 
convalescent,  and   again  tool   up  the  line  of  march  for  En 
prise,  and  passed  through  the  townt  «-t  Raleigh  and  Garlands 
ville  on  the  route,  reaching   Kir-    .  |    late    in  the 

even 

While  \<  ,,]!    ame  up  from 

Mobile,  to  i  f  which  a  freight  box,  heavy  ladened  with 

watermi  ,  ,     |  <ne 

boys  made  what  they  termed  a  "chanTe1*  on  the  load  of  water- 
melons; before  the  owner  had  time  t.>  Kll  the  juices  the  boys 
re  all  around,  in  and  on  top  the  car  ;  the  confusion  kept  up 
during  the  a  charge,"  which  lasted  about  fifteen  minutes,  was 
quite  amusing  to  those  who  were  standing  by  as  spectators  . 
hundreds  of  soldiers  were  crowded  around  the  box  car;  every 
one  was  trying  to  get  a  melon,  at  the  same  time  all  their  v- 
were  sounding  throw  me  the  next  on,  ;  after  the  "  charge" 
over,  the  boys  learned  that  the  load  of  melons  belonged  to  a 
wounded  soldier,  and  came  up  and  voluntarily  paid  him  for 
them. 

On  the  24th  of  July  we  tools  th<  Enterprise    M 

sippi,  for  our  homes  in  Georgia;  proceeded  to  Montgomery  by 
the  way  of  Mobile,  from  thence  to  West  Point,  Georgia,  at 
which  place  we  received  furloughs  on  the  27th  July,  until  the 
13th  August,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  we  were  ordered 
to  report  at  Demopolis,  Alabama,  to  enter  parole  camps.  About 
one  dozen  officers  appeared  in  Demopolis  at  the  appointed  time; 
General  Stevenson  then  ordered  us  to  return  home  and  report 
at  Atlanta  on  the  25th  of  August ;  a  sufficient  number  of  the 
command  appeared  at  Atlanta  to  establish  a  parole  camp.  In 
September,  we  moved  to  Stone  Mountain,  Georgia,  and  durin- 
the  same  month  we  moved  to  Decatur,  Georgia. 

An  exchange  notice  soon  appeared  in  the  public  journals,  that 
General  Stevenson's  division  was  duly  exchanged  on  the  12th 
day  of  September,  1863. 


66  BASX  TEX-NEb^iX  BXFBDETiOK. 

October  1st.  Orders  were  received  to  ioio  General  Brftsr» 
who  then  had  the  enemy  nearly  surrounded  at  Chattanooga; 
accordingly  we  took  the  cars  early  that  morning,  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  we  arrived  at  Chickauiauga  station,  just  twelve 
miles  from  Chattanooga  by  railway,  and  half  that  distance  by 
wagon  route. 


CHAPTER   ^W 

THE    FAST  TENNESSEE  EXPEDITION 

On  the  18th  October  the  regiment  marched  to  Tyners  sta- 
tion, and  on  the  20th  it  travelled  on  the  cars  to  Charleston,  a 
small  town  sitflated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Iliwassec  river,  at 
the  point  where  the  bridge  of  the  East  Tennessee  and  Georgia 
Railroad  crosses,  in  Bradley  county,  Tennessee.  The  enemy 
had  destroyed  the  bridge,  and  were  at  that  time  retreating  in 
the  direction  of  Knoxvillc. 

General  Stexenson  had  under  his  command  two  divisions,  his 
own  and  General  Cheatham's;  he  advanced  slowly  along  this 
line  of  railroad  until  he  reached  Sweet  Water,  where  he  made 
a  temporary  halt.  General  Stevenson  was  then  making  what 
he  termed  an  East  Tennessee  expedition. 

Our  cavalry,  under  command  of  Colonel  J.  J.  Morrison,  was 
engaging  the  enemy  at  that  time  near  a  small  railroad  town 
called  Philadelphia,  just  six  miles  distant;  General  Stevenson 
was  preparing  to  reinforce  Colonel  Morrison,  when  he  received 
news  that  Colonel  Morrison  had  succeeded  in  completely  rout- 
ing the  enemy,  and  taking  a  large  number  of  prisoners;  the  ene- 
my continued  the  retreat  until  he  crossed  the  Tennessee  river 
at  Loudon,  where  he  halted  and  established  his  camp  along  the 
east  bank  of  the  river  ;  General  Stevenson  moved  up  and  camp- 
ed a  short  distance  from  Loudon.  The  two  armies  were  then 
camped  in  plain  view  of  each  other,  being  only  separated  by 
the  river. 

On  the  second  of  November  we  moved  from  our  camp  near 
Loudon  to  Simpkin's  Cross  lloads,  just  seven  miles  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Madison ville,  and  on  the  fifth  of  November  General 
Stevenson  returned  to  Sweet  Water,  he  being  ordered  to  take 


BATTLE  Oti   MISSIONARY  RlDO*.  67 

General  Longstreet's  place  on  the  Lookout  mountain,  and  Gen. 

Longstreet  haying  orders  to  tnkc  his,  and  continue  tl 

tion  in  East  Tennes 

•    Our  brigade  remained  at  81         W  it<  r,  waiting  for  trsu 

tation  until  the  eleventh  of  November,  when  1  for  our 

place  of  destination. 

On  the  night  of  the  twelfth  oi'  November  we  camped'nenr 
the   foot    of  Lookout    mountain,  and    the    following   night  wj 
moved  op  and  took  position  on  t«>p;  we  began  ascending 
mountain  about   dark,  and  just    before  reaching  our  pos 
near  the  summit,  which  commands  a  view  of  Chattan  I 

the  surrounding  count:  1  and   beautiful  sceni 

to  our  vie  the  camp   fires  inny, 

numbering   nearly  one   hundred   thousand,  ti  ampraem 

commenced  at  th<  foot  of  Lookout  mountain,  and 
several  miles  in  Chat!  illey,  near  the  I 

Ridge     Upon  1   the  very  summit   itself,  that 

great!  j  -  from  the  camp  fii 

boUi  armies,  numb  I  t\\.>  hundred  thousand,  l3y  in  sight 

The  Yankee  army  ocoupie  I  i  mt  of 

Lookout  Point. 


CHAPTER  A\\  1 

» 

Being   absent  on  business  at  the  time  oi  the  aboi 
Kattle,  which  was  principally  fought  on  tun  25th  of  November, 
1863,  I  cannot  fully  record  the  actions  of  oar  troops  durifl 

engagement,  but  the  foilou  1  bj    I     R    1 

ton,  who  witnessed  the  greater  portion  of  that  day's  fight,  Viil 
probably  bo  read  with  some  interest. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  oi  the 

General  Cumminj  d  an  order  from  Major  Got 

C\  L.  Stevenson,  commanding   forces   on   tlte   loft,  to   form   hi 
is  quickly  as  possible,  to  vacate  the  position  which   I 
had  occupied  for  the  previous  eight  or  ten  days  on  the  moun- 
tain, and  proceed  to  occupy  the  line  which  had  just  been  vacated 
by  General  Gist,  (Walker's)  Division.  He  was  at  the  ^irno  time 


68  BATTLE  OF  MISSIONARY  RIDG&'. 

informed  that  Jackson's  brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  Wil- 
kerson,  would  assist  him  in  holding  the  line  in  question  ;  owing 
to  the  bad  condition  of  the  road,  number  of  wagons  met,  and 
the  darkness,  he  did  not  reach  the  line  until  nine  o'clock,  P.  M. 
Colonel  Wilkerson  was  already  in  the  ditches,  and  General 
Cumming's  brigade  fell  in  on  the  right;  the  following  day  the 
brigade  witnessed  the  disaster  which  befell  our  troops  on  the 
mountain.  After  the  mist  had  slowly  and  gradually  vanished 
from  the  crest  of  the  mountain,  the  heavens  were  clear,  the 
moon  shone  with  unsurpassed  brilliance,  and  apparently  smiled 
approvingly  upon  that  brave  but  small  band  of  patriots;  at  2£ 
o'clock  General  Cumming  received  orders  to  march  to  the  right 
as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  report  to  Lieutenant  General  W.  J. 
Hardee ;  about  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  No- 
vember, General  Cumming's  brigade  formed  line  of  battle  on 
Missionary  Ridge ;  in  a  short  time  the  skirmishers  of  the  enemy 
appeared  in  the  open  country,  which  lay  some  distance  in  front 
of  our  line ;  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  some  two  hundred  yards 
distant,  stood  a  small  collection  of  houses,  which  the  enemy's 
skirmishers,  supported  by  heavy  columns  in  the  rear,  were  ad- 
vancing to  take  possession  of;  General  Cummings  immediately 
sent  the  Fifty-Sixth  and  Thirty-Ninth  Georgia  Regiments  down 
to  take  possession  of  the  houses;  upon  reaching  the  houses  a 
brisk  skirmish  fight  occurred  between  a  brigade  of  Yankees  and 
the  two  regiments  above  named,  after  which  they  retired  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge,  when  Captain  W.  P.  Milton,  of  the  Thirty - 
Ninth  Georgia  Regiment,  took  command  of  four  companies, 
proceeded  to  the  houses  again,  set  fire  to  them,  and  returned  to 
his  regiment  with  nine  prisoners. 

About  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  our  troops  in  the  outer  line 
were  being  shot  down  by  the  enemy  who  were  completely  un- 
der shelter,  which  rendered  it  necessary  for  a  charge  to  be 
made,  which  was  immediately  performed  by  the  Fifty-Sixth 
Ga.  Regiment,  commanded  by  Captain  John  A.  Grice,  and  the 
Thirty-Sixth  Ga.  itegt,  commanded  by  Capt.  Jacob  L.  Morgan, 
As  soon  as  the  command  "  forward"  was  given  the  two  regi- 
ments leaped  over  the  men  in  the  ditches  and  breastworks,  and 
rushed  on  the  enemy  at  a  charge  bayonet,  and  drove  him  from 
his  annoying  position,  and  again  returned  to  the  top  of  the 
ridge. 


fcAUT.L  01    inSSIOKABT  Ell 

The  enemy  being  lomewhat   impudent  soon  appeared  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill  again,  when  the  charge  was  repeated,  and  the 
enemy  was  again  repulsed  with  confusion.     During  the  day  the 
left  and  centre  gave  way,  which  made  it  necessary  for  our  army 
to  fall  back,  which  was  done  under  cover  of  the  night.    General 
Cummiag's   brigade   retired   to   Dalton,   and   at   the  time  T  am- 
writing,  viz:  1st   January,    1864,   we  are  comfortabl j  situated 
in  winter  quarters  at  the  last  named  place.     Colonel  J.  T.  M< 
Connell,  Thirty-Ninth  Georgia  Regiment,  was  killed  durin 
engagement.     Lieutenant-Colonel   J.  T?.  Slaughter,  Major  J. P. 
Brewster,  Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  M.  Wallace,  and  Colonel  J*  A 
\Y.  Johnson,  all  of  General  Cumming\s  brigade,   irere  wound 
ded.     Boon  after  this  battle  General   Bragg   retired   from  tin: 
army,  and  Lieutenant •( ieneral  BardeetOOK  command  until  I 
era]  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  to  whom  >  ;ned  the  r  >m 

<  f  this  army,  arrived  and  entered  upon  his  dutu 

General  Cummini  rieve  their  ch 

ter,  and  erase  tlie  blemish  which  had  been  wrongfully  an 
justly  imposed  upon   them  at  tin-  disastrous  and   unfortunate 
battle  of  Baker's  Creek,  and  led  en  by  their  ii  I 
Brig.  Gen.  A.  Camming,  three  times  char  Demy,  routing 

him  and  taking  several  colors,     Whatever  i  m  the 

issue  as  regards  other  coalman  '  rf  this 

ide  can  look   back  at  the  battle  i  I   M  - 
recall  their  repulse  of  «  mlt  (.|  the  .  :. 

cess   in   holding   their   position,— -with   the    | 
whose  "  strong   arms  and  stout  heart-  em  tc 

the  gratitude  an  1  admiration  of  th^ir  country. 


?0  MEMBERS    OF  THE  dAMPBKLL   SPARTANS. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  "  Campbell 
Spartans,"  as  originally  organized.  The  officers  have  all  been 
promoted,  and  James  T.  Loveless  was  elected  second  lieutenant, 
junior,  on  the  1st  of  January,  18GH.  Since  the  organization  <>} 
the  Fifty-Sixth  Georgia  Regiment, the"  Campbell  Spartans" ha* 
been  known  as  company  "  A,"  Fifty-Sixth  Regiment,  Georgia 
Volunteers. 

Captain  J.  P.  Brewster. 

First  Lieutenant  B.  W.  Cochran,  wounded  and  taken  prisoner 
at  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge—  right  leg  broken. 

Second  Lietenant  C.  M.  Polk. 

Second  Lieutenant,  junior,  O.  A.  CantreJl. 

First  Sergeant  W.  S.  Abercrombie,  died  at  Fairburn,  Geor- 
gia,-June  13,  1862. 

Second  Sergeant  W.  A.  Tanner,  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Baker's  Creek. 

Third  Sergeant  B.  F  ('amp,  died  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee, 
September  0,  1.862. 

Fourth  Sergeant  A.  M.  Rogers, 

Fifth  Sergeant  E.R.Thornton,  now  chief  clerk  a1  General 
Camming1  s  headquarters. 

First  Corporal  B.  D.  Brewster,  now  Fifth  Sergeant. 

Second  Corporal  D.  S,  Taylor,  died  at  KnOxvHle,  Tenn 
July  4,  1862. 

Third  Corporal  R.  D.  Nichols,  died  at  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
September  10,  1862. 

Fourth  Corporal  P.  A.  McBride. 

Private  J.  R.  Abercrombie,  hired  J.  L,  Jones  a*  a  substitute, 
August  14,  1  802. 

Private  James  Allen. 

Private  Levi  Ballard,  now  Commissary  Sergeant,  Fixty-Sixth 
Georgia  Regiment. 

Private  B.  F.  Ballard, 

Private  W.  M.  Banks. 

Private  N.  G.  Bennefield,  died  in  hospital,  Atlanta,  Georgia, 
July  14,  1802. 

Private  W.  R.  11.  Black,  died  in  Knox  County*  Kentucky, 
September  17,  1802. 

Private  W.  L.  E.  Boyd,  enlisted  August  6,  1803. 

Private  D.  F.  Brewster,  now  Sergeant  Major,  Fifty-Sixth 
Georgia  Regiment. 


Private  Joel  Brock. 

Private  Thomas  Brock. 

Private  K.  11.  Camp,  discharged  June 

Private  Thomas  Carnes,  enlisted  October  I -. 

Private  G,  fi   decUer,  died  nt  Manchester,  Tennessee,  De- 

Private  W.  J.  (  leckler,  nojv  Fiftl    •  nl. 

Private  H.  II.  Cleckl 

Private  C.  C.  Clinton. 

Private  W.  A.  Clinton. 

Private  Eli  P.  Cotton,  i  nli  •!•  •-!    Vug     \ 

Private  J.  II.  <  taggin. 

Private  W.  E.  Curry. 

Private  .1.  II.  Dalrymple,  died  at  I  H<  intain  H 

il,  Tt  nm  ssce,  in  J 

Private  J.  M.  Darnell,  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  tl   the 
battle  of  M      iona 

Private  J.  T.  Darnell. 

Pi  ivate  P.  E.  1  >eaione)  . 

Private  James  Dunlap,  di<  I  at  Petei 
27,  1 

Private  1  >a\  id  Eidsou,  now  S 

Private  J ani  t  Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  July 

i  l.  i 

ftivatc  f.  S,  Ellis. 

Private  Matthew    I  H 

Vital,  Tennessee,  in  ] 

Private  J.  II.  Gibson. 

Private  J.  T.  (Tiles. 

Private  Thomas  Gill,  died  at  knoxville,  T« 
ber,  1863. 

Private  W.  P.  Ginniu 

Private  G.  W.  Griffith,  killed  in  Campbell  County  G< 
August  2 

Private  J.L.  Harper,  transferred  from  Company 
January  I,  1804. 

Private  R.  M.  Hartsneld. 

Private  G.  W.  Hartsfield,  died  in  Campbell  County,  Georgia, 
July  1,  1862. 

Private  J.  2s".  Hicks,   wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  the  bat- 


72  MEMBEES  OF  THE  CAMPBELL    SPARTAXo. 

tie  of  Missionary  Ridge,  November  25,   1863,—  foot  was  am- 
putated. 

Private  J.  E.  Hicks. 

Private  E.  E.  Horton,  enlisted  December  2,  1863. 

Private  W.  A.  Hunt,  enlisted  October  10,  1863. 

Private  Alfred  Hunter,  enlisted  August  14,  1862. 

Private  J.  T.  Hunter. 

Private  J.  M.  Huey,  enlisted  June  13;   1863,— wounded  and 
taken  prisoner  November  25,  1863. 

Private  T.  J.  Howard. 

Private  T.  C-  Holloway. 

Private  James  Johnson,  died  in   Coweta  County,   Georgia, 
November  14,  1863. 

Private  James  M.  Johnson,  transferred  from  Company  "  I " 
to  Company  "  A,"  January  1,  1864. 

Private  James  Jones,  received  in  the  company  August  14, 
1862,  as  a  substitute  for  J.  R.  Abercrombie. 

Private  John  N.  Jones. 

Private  Thomas  G.  Laton. 

Private  A.  M.  Lee. 

Private  J.  A.  Lindsey. 

Private  J.  T.  Loveless. 

Private  J.  M.  Lowry,  died  at  Cumberland  Gap,  Tennessee, 
October  28,  1862. 

Private  J.  G.  Mason. 

Private  CVS.  McElreath. 

Private  J.  P.  McKelvey. 

Private  C.  A.  McKinly. 

Private  B.  F.  McKoy,  now  Third  Corporal. 

Private  W.  A.  McLarty,  died  at  Tazewell,  Tennessee,  No- 
vember 6,  1862. 

Private  J.  H.  McLarty. 

Private  A.  D.  McLarty,  died  at  Lookout  Mountain  Hospital, 
Tennessee,  August  10,  1862. 

Private  B.  G.  Miller. 

Private  K.  B.  Mobbs. 
Private  Henry  Morris. 

Private  A.  J.  Morris. 

Private  W.  M.  Morris,  died  at  Loudon,  Tennessee,  Novem- 


MEMBERS  OF  TI1E  CAMPBELL  iFABTANft.  73 

Private  J.  W.  Morris,  transferred  to  company  I,  January  1st, 
1864. 

Private  David  McWilliams. 

Private  W.  J.  Payne. 

Private  W.  II.  Polk,  died  at  Tazewell,  Tennessee,  November 
5,  1862. 

Private  II.  C.  Phillips. 

Private  J.  A.  Rogers,  died  in  Campbell  county,  Georgia,  Sep- 
tember 18,  1862. 

Private  W!  II.  II.  Rogers,  now  Third  Sergeant. 

Private  W.  W.  Shadix. 

Private  W.  II.  Shadix, 

Private  Cicero  Serret. 

Private  Sandt-.rd  Serfett,  enl'iated  D  nh  inber  3,  18(32. 

Private  A.  MoSrnith. 

Private  George  M.  Souter. 

Private  J.  II.  Stephens. 

Private  W.  T.  Stewart,  now  First  Corp  »ral. 

Private  Henry  Strickland. 

Private  Levi  S.  Strickland. 

Private  Joseph  Suttl-s. 

Private  I).  G.  Suttles,  now  Fourth  Qorporftl. 

Private  Wm.  Teal,  died  at  Chattanooga, Tennessee,  about  1st 
of  August,  1862, 

Private  John  W.  Terry,  now  First  S      :  Ant. 

Private  John  W.  Thomas. 

Private  Balani  Thomas,  enlisted  December  3,  1862. 

Private  C.  C.  Tolbert,  substitute  for  Thomas  A.  Enterkin. 

Private  Eli  Vansant,  died  in  Campbell  oonnty,  Georgia,  July 
30,  1862. 

Private  Emanuel  Vansant, died  at  Lookout  Mountain  Hospit- 
al, Tennessee,  August  10,  1802. 

Private  Noah  Vansant. 

Private  F.  M.  Wilkerson. 

Private  Samuel  J.  White. 

Private  John  C.  White,  wonnded  on  the  8th  and  died  en  the 
15th  January,  1863,  at  Yicksburg,  Mississippi. 

Private  D.  P.  Woodruff. 

Private  J.  M.  Wright. 

Private  Isaac  C.  Wright. 


...    ■ 


